#25 Backstory of the Poem “It is only Yourself that Bends—so Wake up!” by Seth Berg
ABOVE: Seth in 2018
seth_berg@yahoo.com
https://mutedlines.com
Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form?
Three years ago, I was involved in a car crash which resulted in me flat-lining on scene. I was given 6 liters of blood on the way to the hospital preceding emergency surgery. I was in a coma and experience wild hallucination, lucidity, and experiences. I wanted to write a book about those strange experiences. This poem is the final poem in that book. I began drafting this poem in November of 2017 and finished it in February of 2018. It went through many line-level revisions, but no major overhauls.
(ABOVE: Self portrait revealing Seth’s injuries.)
Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place ingreat detail.
I was in the sunroom at the front of my house in the Corcoran Neighborhood of South Minneapolis. I was flanked by two red bookshelves, three of my paintings, two ukeleles, and bookshelf knick-knacks. It was shortly after sunrise and I was facing east writing in a red moleskine notebook with a cheap black ink pen.
How many drafts of this poem did you write before going to the final? (And can you share a photograph of your rough drafts with pen markings on it?)
4c drafts…unfortunately, I do not have the first draft. I ceremoniously burnt the moleskine when my book was finished.
Were there any lines in any of your rough drafts of this poem that were not in the final version? And can you share them with us?
No full lines were removed, but several words were changed. For example, the thread was initially cerulean and the agates were pebbles. (LEFT: Seth’s fingers)
What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem?
States of uncertainty can be eerie and also enlightening…and on occasion, you are the most powerful creature to have ever existed…only you can convince yourself of that fact.
(RIGHT: Rock’s from the Pacific Coast)
Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why?
The final line. Had it not been for the memory of my children, I would not have returned from coma-world, or as I call it: Bonkerville. I forced myself awake after having had several false awakenings by speaking that final line aloud.
Has this poem been published before? And if so where?
It has not. I submitted the chapbook to three contests and am awaiting the results. No rejections yet. However, I have not sent this poem out by itself. You are the first to read it.
Anything you would like to add?
You wanted a poem which hits close to my emotional home and you have it here. However, it may feel cold as it is out of context. Either way, I hope you dig it.
Seth Berg is a hatchet-wielding forest-dweller who digs tasty hallucinatory literature. A hot-sauce-addicted pyromaniac with an MFA from Bowling Green State University, Berg fantasizes about flight without mechanisms, alien glyph systems, and snowshoeing through your nocturnal dreamscapes. He is a professor, poet, artifact-maker, and amateur astrophysicist whose mathematically coded collections of poetry will haunt, invigorate, provoke, and inspire you. (ABOVE LEFT: Tattoos of his children’s names on his fingers)
Berg’s first book, Muted Lines From Someone Else’s Memory won the Dark Sky Books 2009 book contest.His second book, Aviary, co-authored with Bradford K. Wolfenden II, won the 2015 Artistically Declined Twin Antlers Contest, and was released by Civil Coping Mechanisms in January of 2017. Other poems and short fiction can be found in Connecticut Review, 13th Warrior Review, Spittoon Literary Review, BlazeVOX, Heavy Feather Literary Review, The Montucky Review, Masque & Spectacle, and Lake Effect, among others. Recently, poems were anthologized in GTCPR Volume III and Daddy Cool. He lives in Minnesota with his two supernatural children, Oak and Sage, and his magical better half, Kori.
001 Backstory of the Poem
“12 – 2014” from the poetry collection BEFORE THE DROUGHT by Margo Berdeshevsky published by Glass Lyre Press on September 15, 2017
#002 Backstory of the Poem
“82 Miles from the Beach, We Order The Lobster At Clear Lake Café”
by Alexis Rhone Fancher
#003 Backstory of the Poem
“Orange”
by Barbara Crooker
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#004 Backstory of the Poem
“Modern Matsushima”
by Sonia Saikaley
https://christalcooper.com/004-backstory-of-the-poem-modern-matsushima-by-sonia-saikaley/
#005 Backstory of the Poem
“Side Yard”
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http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/01/5-backstory-of-poem-sidewalk-by-ellen.html
#006 Backstory of the Poem
“The Ringmaster”
By Susan Sundwall
https://christalcooper.com/006-backstory-of-the-poem-the-ringmaster/
#007 Backstory of the Poem
“That Night”
by Leslea Newman
https://christalcooper.com/007-backstory-of-the-poem-that-night-by-leslea-newman/
#008 Backstory of the Poem
“June Fairchild Isn’t Dead”
by Alexis Rhone Fancher
#009 Backstory of the Poem
“The Gift of the Year with Granny”
By Charles Clifford Brooks III
#010 Backstory of the Poem
“The Natural Reflection of Your Palms”
by Scott Thomas Outlar
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/chris-ricecooper-caccoopaol.html
#011 Backstory of the Poem
“After Diane Beatty’s Photograph “History Abandoned”
by Anya Francesca Jenkins
#012 Backstory of the Poem
“What I Learned This Week”
By Angela Narciso Torres
#013 Backstory of the Poem
“Holidays On ICE”
By Jan Steckel
https://christalcooper.com/013-backstory-of-the-poem-holiday-on-ice-by-jan-steckel/
#014 Backstory of the Poem
“Colors”
by Ibrahim Honjo
https://christalcooper.com/014-backstory-of-the-poem-colors-by-ibrahim-honjo/
#015 Backstory of the Poem
“Ode To Disappointment”
By Marilyn Kallett
https://christalcooper.com/015-backstory-of-the-poem-ode-to-disappointment-by-marilyn-kallet/
#016 Backstory of the Poem
“Reliquary”
by Beth Copeland
#017 Backstory of the Poem
‘The Swallows of Barcelona”
by Marlon L. Fick
https://christalcooper.com/17-backstory-of-the-poem-the-swallows-of-barcelona-by-marlon-fick/
#18th Backstory of the Poem
“Arterial Discombobulation”
by Juliet Cook
#19th Backstory of the Poem
“Stiletto Killer . . . A Surmise” from the poetry collection ENTER HERE
By Alexis Rhone Fancher
#20 Backstory of the Poem
“At Last I Can Start Suffering”
By Charles Rammelkamp
#21 Backstory of the Poem
“Wind Chimes”
by Marla Shaw O’Neil
#022 Backstory of the Poem
“Studying Ariel”
by Julia Gordon-Bramer
https://christalcooper.com/22-backstory-of-the-poem-studying-ariel-by-julia-gordon-bramer/
#023 Backstory of Poem
“Jesus Zombie”
by Bill Yarrow
https://christalcooper.com/23-backstory-of-the-poem-jesus-zombie-by-bill-yarrow/
#24 Backstory of the Poem
“Brag 2016:
by Telaina Eriksen