#47 Backstory of the Poem Jeffrey Owen Pearson’s “Memorial Day” from the poetry anthology Best of Flying Island, published on March 21, 2014 and in Indiana Humanities on April 13, 2016
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?
Poetry prompts tend to be hit and miss with me. Mostly miss. The prompt for this poem was to write from a photograph. Much of what I wrote is true and much is not, notably the fact this photograph does not exist except in my mind’s camera.
Dad wore a t-shirt out in the heat of a holiday weekend at relatives, listening to the Indianapolis 500 on the car radio. It was in DeKalb, noted for seed corn, not Chicago remembered for its big shoulders and its politics. Somehow relatives morphed from one family to another with some sharp details. I’ve written many dad poems, so this began long ago.
The legacy father passes to son has fascinated me since viewing Bertolucci’s film “The Spider’s Stratagem.” Any dad poem written by a son has me asking what ripples cast out by the father wash up at the feet of the son.
Where were you when you started to write the poem? And please describe the place in detail. What month and year did you start writing this poem?
I might have started the poem in a workshop, but the first time on a computer was an afternoon in July 2013. I work on a heavy library table, nearly always typing in Pages or Word. A snowdrift of paper covers much of the surface, and I can find things until I need to.
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?
I can resurrect three significant changes.
001
Firebird gets replaced by a more generic and accessible Pontiac.
002
Schlitz beer changes to Stag in a later draft. I often begin poems without punctuation. For the most part, this poem stayed that way, but some lines were brought up.
003
I listen to a campus radio station late at night which plays a lot of Sinatra. He wormed his way into the end months later and nicely shadows the moon and dad.
No poem is ever finished. The title has changed since it was published, along with a little tightening up.
Screenshot
What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem?
What can I say? If you’ve seen “Midnight in Paris,” you’ll understand: Dalí! The persistence of memory, but the fact it is liquid.
Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why?
I suppose the most resonant part of the poem is dad leaving. He suffered with Alzheimer’s, so he spent a long time leaving before he died. This was written during that time.
https://www.alzheimersorganization.org/
Jeffrey Owen Pearson’s poems have appeared in The Best of Flying Island, So It Goes, Reckless Writing 2014 Anthology, Tipton Poetry Journal, Flying Island, and Maize. “I have fallen asleep again reading Homer” placed third in the 2014 Writers Digest Poetry Awards. Pudding House Publications published his chapbook Hawaii Slides. A board member of the Midwest Writers Workshop, he lives in Muncie, IN.
jjopcelia@comcast.net
https://jeffreyopearson.wordpress.com
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
https://christalcooper.com/003-backstory-of-the-poem-orange-by-barbara-crooker/
#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”
By Ellen Foos
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
#025 Backstory of the Poem
“It is only Yourself that Bends – so Wake up!”
by Seth Berg
#26 Backstory of the Poem
“Devil In the Details”
by David Herrle
https://christalcooper.com/26-backstory-of-the-poem-devil-in-the-details-by-david-herrle/
#27 Backstory of the Poem
“Carmen Polo, Lady Necklaces, 2017”
by Gloria Mindock
#28 Backstory of the Poem
“Two Deaths”
by Connie Post
https://christalcooper.com/28-backstory-of-the-poem-two-deaths-by-connie-post/
#029 Backstory of the Poem
“Faces in a Crowd”
by Mary Harwell Sayler
#030 Backstory of the Poem
“The Risking Point”
by Larry Jaffe
#031 Backstory of the Poem
September 24, 2018
Mark Lee Webb’s “After We Drove”
https://christalcooper.com/31-backstory-of-the-poem-after-we-drove-by-mark-lee-webb/
#032 Backstory of the Poem
“Astral”
by Melissa Studdard
https://christalcooper.com/32-backstory-of-the-poem-astral-by-melissa-studdard/
#033 Backstory of the Poem
“I Have A Bass Guitar Called Vanessa”
#034 Backstory of the Poem
David Sullivan’s “Paper Mache Peaches of Heaven”
https://christalcooper.com/34-backstory-of-the-poem-paper-mache-peaches-of-heaven-by-david-sullivan/
#035 Backstory of the Poem
“Sobriety”
by Timothy Gager
#036 Backstory of the Poem
“The Second Breakfast”
by Gary Glauber
https://christalcooper.com/36-backstory-of-the-poem-the-second-breakfast-by-gary-glauber/
#037 Backstory of the Poem
“Melania’s Deaf Tone Jacket”
By Heather McKeon
https://christalcooper.com/37-backstory-of-the-poem-melanias-tone-deaf-by-heather-forbes-mckeon/
#038 Backstory of the Poem
“Women of the Fields”
by Andrena Azwinski
#039 Backstory of the Poem
“Poe”
by Gordon Hilgers
https://christalcooper.com/39-backstory-of-the-poem-poe-by-gordon-hilgers/
#040 Backstory of the Poems
“My Children Question Me About Poetry” and “Deathbed Dreams”
By Rita Quillen
#041 Backstory of the Poem
“Dog Sitting”
by Jonathan Kevin Rice
https://christalcooper.com/41-backstory-of-the-poem-dog-sitting-by-jonathan-kevin-rice/
042 Backstory of the Poem
“Mountain”
by Haroldo Barbosa Filho
https://christalcooper.com/42-backstory-of-the-poem-mountain-by-haroldo-barbosa-filho/
#43 Backstory of the Poem
“Grief Flowers” from the anthology ‘
by Megan Merchant
https://christalcooper.com/?p=1881&preview=true
#44 Backstory of the poem
“This Poem is too Neat”
By Jonathan Taylor
#45 Backstory of the Poem
“Sungmyo for our Dead Father-in-Law
by Ian Haight
#046 Backstory of the Poem “Poem Registering in the Throat” from the poetry collection INNERMOST SEA, by Nancy Dafoe and published by Finishing Line Press on November 30, 2018