Interview with a Poet: South Florida Poetry Journal

 Here is my Interview with a Poet in the October edition of the South Florida Poetry Journal. 

Thank you to Lenny DellaRocca. 

Please visit them on Facebook HERE

You can read the interviews HERE 

Susan Marie

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1. Do you have a writing routine? If so, what is it?

I have no writing routine whatsoever.  I write when the words strike, when that divine stream of consciousness flows freely or if I stop and tune in, on purpose, to my creative self. 

2. Are you a poet because you write poetry, or do you write poetry because you are a poet?

The poems write me.

3. Have you ever written poetry while listening to music? If so, what artist were you listening to? What was the poem? (If you remember)

Yes! Hendrix is a fantastic inspiration. Most of the artists from the 60's and 70's, depends on the tune, inspire me while writing. That music is an immense part of who I am. I do not recall writing anything specific or having a certain artist. I just pop on the tunes and go.

4. Please write the last line for a poem titled:
“Strawberries for a Mango Kind of Girl”

like the sun, pregnant and full, dragging her belly across a dying dawn.


5. What book (poetry or otherwise) are you currently reading. What book is next?

Not specifically poetry, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom [Anam Cara means "soul friend" in Irish] by John O' Donohue, which does include divine Celtic poetry.  Next? Hmmm .  .  .  I am torn between Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala and Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake.

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Susan Marie is a Spoken Word Poet, Writer, Author, and Broadcast Journalist. 

The City of the Sun: Exploration in Utopian Literature

     The City of the Sun, by Tommaso Campanella, is an essential early utopian political, religious, philosophical and prose dialogue written after the author’s imprisonment during the Inquisition for heresy and free speech in 1602. Inspired by Plato’s Republic, The City of the Sun is a conversation between a grandmaster of the knights and a sea captain. Campanella, of the Dominican Order, was educated in medieval fashions. Logic and revelation defined the pathway to truth, yet Campanella revolted against absolutes. The City of the Sun signifies a shift in thought from old to new in direct relation to the suffering the author experienced due to his religious and political ideals. This utopian work means to reflect an order where freethinking individuals can flourish, a theocratic society, where goods, services, women, and children are equal.

     The story begins when the grandmaster questions the captain and the captain speaks of “the City of the Sun”, a utopian state from whence he came. The first dystopian themes appear when the captain states, “I came upon a large crowd of men and armed women.” (Campanella, The City of the Sun).  Secondly, when the sailor describes the city, he reiterates how secure it is. “. . . so that he who wishes to capture that city must, as it were, storm it seven times” and continues with “ . . . I think that not even the first wall could be occupied, so thick are the earthworks and so well fortified is it with breastworks, towers, guns, and ditches.” (Campanella, The City of the Sun).  

     Utopia signifies ideal perfection, a society that incorporates social improvement and political perfection where equality and peace exist, a community that embodies simple states of happiness and fulfillment. Yet the captain describes to the grandmaster a dystopian world, one where people are armed. The fashion the city is built describes a modern day military complex. This “utopian” city is not a welcoming place. One must bombard it in order to enter much like current oppressive societies, war, and revolution. 

     Furthermore, a main ruler, as well as various rulers for diverse subjects, is in place in this “supposed” utopian city, “The great ruler among them is a priest whom they call by the name Hoh, though we should call him Metaphysic. He is head over all, in temporal and spiritual matters, and all business and lawsuits are settled by him, as the supreme authority.” (Campanella, The City of the Sun). The captain continues to relate to the grandmaster how the ruler, Hoh, is responsible for all matters relating to war and the military arts, attending to all aspects of ruling in a “warlike” nature. There are soldiers, munitions, military planning, and armories. There is mention of hate towards a sordid legislator under Hoh.

     While love claims to be the foremost ruler in charge of this city and race of people, everything regarding breeding, marriage, education of children, medicine, agriculture, food, clothing, and sexual intercourse requires governing. In addition, along with Hoh, three separate rulers are responsible for the crux of decisions that affect this community. “Metaphysic, then, with these three rulers, manages all the above-named matters, and even by himself alone nothing is done; all business is discharged by the four together . . .” (Campanella, The City of the Sun).

     This “City of the Sun” is far more dystopian in nature than utopian. This not only mimics our current state of government, but of an even further “right” and “left” government that we currently do not have. This city replicates a combination of medieval society with a strictly political and religious governing body. Equality is not mentioned, only rulers, ruling, and supreme decisions made by four people, not by the citizens, of the people, for the people and by the people, but by four people. Considering the publication of The City of the Sun, 1602, during the Inquisition, it is understandable how the current state of the world was desirable, however, from the perspective of 2017, this “utopia” is far too close, if not worse, than what exists. 

Works Cited

Campanella, Tommaso. The City of the Sun. 1602. EBook release 2009. Last updated 2013. (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2816/2816-h/2816-h.htm).

  

 

"il caffé" in Helen: A Literary Magazine

Thank you to Helen: A Literary Magazine
for publishing my flash fiction in their Fall 2017 Issue. 

You can check that out > HERE.

il caffé

by Susan Marie

Her name was Juliana.

I met her in a coffeehouse ducking out of an icy New York rainfall. I didn’t notice her at first.  She is that type of woman, alone, in a dark corner, mysterious. I didn’t plan to stay long, wished to grab a cappuccino and get back to my apartment to relax.

I made the last payment on my Jeep and desperately needed to slip out of my work clothes. Credit card in hand, I walked over to Zeke, owner of the café, to inquire about a part-time job opening as a barista.

That was when Juliana noticed me.

All it took was a slight turn of my head, our eyes met, and I was blinded.  Everything around us faded into background. The only sound, my blood, pumping, sending oxygen to my cheeks, rising, ripe as apples in October.

She motioned to me and I nodded. I slung my leather backpack on one shoulder and held my books under the other arm trying to juggle my coffee.  She stood up to help me, smiling as she approached.  She had the softest brown eyes I ever saw.

I could stare into them forever.  That evening, I did.

She spoke, introducing herself.  I studied each strand of her mane, that of a thoroughbred, wild and shining.  It was just past shoulder length, straight and black, and she kept waving it away from her eyes.

She was painfully adorable.

Juliana asked if I had any plans for the evening. I shook my head no. She took my hand, in silence, leading me out of the café.

I opened the passenger door for her. She slid into the Jeep I now owned. I somehow knew a drive along Route 5 along Lake Erie would be a reprieve from the dankness of this day.

She popped a CD in the player and sang as I drove. Tilting my chin upward, I glanced towards her out of the corner of my eye.  Silence gathered in sultry air.  We both recognized that stare.  

In that moment, I was falling in love with a complete stranger.