Featured Poet: Brendan de Lucia
Brendan de Lucia recently published his fourth book of poetry, Behind The Dumpster. We had the opportunity to interview him about his creative process and body of work.
Congratulations on releasing Behind The Dumpster! How do you think this book fits in with your body of work?
Being book number four, this assortment of poetry needed to be special. I came up with the title at work, yes, by escorting garbage to the beautiful dumpster. Behind that dumpster, I discovered some interesting things; an empty condom package, one dirty sock and a decent pair of sunglasses. Then it hit me, I found the remnants of an epic love story. The poetry for this book dances along the line of reader comfortability. It is raw. It is real. It is something with guts. It will caress you in ways you might not enjoy & hurt you in ways you may not be prepared to feel. It’s poetry, from Behind The Dumpster. I view all of my poems as puzzle pieces. When all the pieces come together, the puzzle then becomes a book. I believe we are all filled with voids, especially writers. Voids we fill, or in some cases plug, with walls or words. A happy life is a complete life. So each book is just the next piece of my happiness, one step closer to total completion. My poems fill the voids, therefore solving the puzzles, birthing the books, achieving the happiness.
Does your latest book release feel any different from your previous works Absinthe or Grilled Cheese & Whisky?
Releasing Behind The Dumpster has definitely broken down my personal comfortability barriers. Poetry is an emotional category. Sometimes it can even be downright scary. I used to find myself constantly deleting, backspacing, and erasing beautiful words because I was scared of them. Which, at first, made posting them on social media for the entire world to see; a terrifying feat. Until the day I gained the courage to allow my words to run wild. That day was four years ago. I now have four books of poetry published, along with featured publications in numerous anthologies. The difference this time around, is confidence. Once I realized that fermenting my words only made them rot, I let them breathe. You never know which stranger in what part of the world is going to resonate with your words. Words have more power than their authors. That is the main lesson I have learned in publishing Behind The Dumpster.
Can you describe your writing process?
My writing process in unorthodox because I don’t necessarily have one. I’ve learned to let the words come to me; let the inspiration find me. Now, that doesn’t mean I get off easy. I am constantly having conversations with as many people as possible, listening to all genres of music, looking out windows, gazing at clouds, reading books, news articles, scouring social media, you name it. You never know where that random strike of inspiration will come from. A random word, a phrase, song lyric, google image, rain puddle, car accident, someone’s accent or attire; you must embrace the randomness, let it find you. I also carry a pocket-sized writing pad and writing utensil on my person to jot down any ideas I may come across during the day, because I keep running out of space on my cellphone to store all of the poems and stories!
Have you ever gone on a literary pilgrimage?
Growing up in New England meant constant access to Martha’s Vineyard, a small island off the coast of Cape Cod, MA. Only an hour drive from my hometown, I have taken many ferry rides to the Island to escape the real world and to write. But not solely to write, to clear my head, buy world famous fudge and of course to ride their timeless bronze ring carousel (for all ages). There is something about staring out at the Atlantic, witnessing the waves violently crash against the shore, wondering what lies beneath the brine and to wave across the sea at the invisible human waving back at me. I have also traveled to Washington D.C numerous times to read and write. The weight of history in our nation’s capital definitely ignites the logs of writing. In 2014, I had the opportunity to visit Italy for eleven days. That was the greatest experience of my life. It allowed my eyes to truly open and appreciate something different. Experiencing different and strange places, new languages and archaic mysteries. Great stories come from great experiences and great experiences come with travel. Safe to say, my travel days are far from over!
What is your motivation for writing?
My motivation for writing is the opportunity for creation. Life is a form of creation given to us for a brief time to enjoy. In that brief time, life insists and depends on constant creation. So why not control it? We can’t stop populations from expanding nor curve intelligence from enhancing. But words have the power to create stories. Stories we can create. Creating something new, is the ultimate joy in life. From a newborn child, a business, or a story; creating is the ultimate life motivator!
What does literary success look like to you?
Literary success for me, are reviews. The review can be spectacular, horrendous or anything and everything in-between. Writers write their words with the intentions of those words being absorbed by other humans. Reviews inform the writer that their work is being absorbed, discussed, critiqued, hated and loved. But most of all it tells the writer you read them, actually took the time to digest the words concocted.
What advice do you have for aspiring poets?
DO NOT RUSH! DO NOT FORCE! I cannot stress these two rules enough. Writing, especially poetry, must always come naturally. What do I mean by naturally? Each word is crucial. Each word has a purpose, each word is a puzzle piece. If you start rushing, or forcing words to fit in where they do not belong, the puzzle will look wrong. It may seem complete, but the edges will eventually break free and the message will become lost. If you ever find yourself adding random words to finish the piece because you can’t find the right ones, stop writing immediately! Walk away from your idea, focus on other tasks and listen to some music. Completely remove yourself and your thoughts from whatever you were writing. I promise, if you can trust the universe, but more importantly, your brain; the right words will find their way home into your poem/story. When you rush/force, the piece quickly becomes mechanical. Nature relies on time, the same goes for writing. Practice patience. Trust your heart. Own your words. Create something new every day!
Where can readers read more of your work?
Readers can mainly find me on Instagram @WORD.BENDER. I post new poems daily along with poems from each one of my books. Readers can also find my work on WordPress, Poetizer and Facebook.
Absinthe, Grilled Cheese & Whiskey, Behind The Dumpster and Page Publishing Poetry Anthology: Volume 1 are all available for sale through all major online stores like AMAZON, Barnes & Noble & of course BLURB. Hard copies of Grilled Cheese & Whiskey can also be found on shelves at specific New England Barnes & Noble locations!