Another poet interview for National Poetry Month, meet Maxwell I. Gold. A frequent contributor of poetry in Space and Time, he also has a short story in the last issue. I feel like I’ve known Maxwell for awhile through his poetry, but I am now getting to know him as a friend. And now… a few hundred words from Maxwell I. Gold…
AYS: If you could be in a poem, what poem would it be and why?
Maxwell I. Gold: Clark Ashton Smith’s Memnon’s of the Night without question for the simple reason that it’s like wandering in a blissful sea of symphonic doom, my body swaying to the tune of a sweet, eldritch lullaby. Every time I read that poem; the words carry me to different places with new music each time.
AYS: If you were a villain, and your evil power is poetry. How would you destroy the universe—or at least our part of it?
Maxwell I. Gold: I’d imagine through the uncaring, unseen eyes of the Cyber Gods as their bodies waltz through a deathful cacophony of stars, crying out into the voiceless dark unable to stop a force so vast and inhuman. That might be one way, or possibly I sit back, tapping and swiping, as the universe itself is hacked inside and out, gnawed at the roots by faceless Cyber Things; whose teeth comprised of bytes and pixels chew at foundations of consciousness and reason until entropy decays into ash and the dark is nothing less than the Void’s toy.
AYS: What inspires your own poetry? By what process do you craft it?
Maxwell I. Gold: I’ve had to ruminate on this for a bit, because my process sometimes is more subconscious when it comes to the actual craft of my prose poetry. There are always words, images, strange new places and fantastic worlds just flying around in my head. Sometimes I’ll write down words, descriptors, random notes on my phone or in my notebook then come back to them later and expand. If I have an idea, I have to write it down or else it will be replaced by something else.
Those are some more technical aspects than the inspiration and philosophy. The musicality of prose is an inspiration for my prose. It’s like listening to really good piece of music or a choir of beautiful voices and the more you listen, the melody develops and changes, sending chills down your spine; that is the kind of inspiration I look for when I’m writing prose poetry, no matter the genre.
I also view it as an outlet of ideas, conversation, and trying to speak up for those who may not be able to speak for themselves. Having that responsibility as an author to me, is inspiring and gives me drive when creating new poetry.
AYS: How and why did you fall in love with poetry?
Maxwell I. Gold: I’ve always been in love with poetry ever since I was in middle school. The ability to articulate so many different feelings and emotion while telling a story (sometimes) in only a few words was always very powerful to me. Some of the first poetry I remember reading was Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, Ovid’s Metamorphosis, and Dante’s Inferno. Of course, while none of those are short, it put me on a path to poetry.
AYS: If you were trapped on a mountain top but you could have one poet trapped with you, who would you choose?
Maxwell I. Gold: That’s an easy one. Linda Addison.
AYS: What do you see for the future of poetry?
Maxwell I. Gold: Personally, I think the future of poetry is bright and if there are authors who are hesitant about pursuing the path of a poet, my advice is that there are people who have done it and there are people here to help you. I chose the path of a prose poet, which is even more difficult, though I can’t express how important this is to me. The love of the musicality of prose and the words I hear in my head is like a never-ending symphony, one that I only wish to share with everyone.
AYS: What’s coming up for you, and how can we find, follow and like you?
Maxwell I. Gold: Expanding the Cyber Gods mythos my short story Escape from the House of Asher-Fell will be appearing in a new anthology from Inked in Gray. Recently, I was asked to write a story for an untitled project that is to be announced this year based on a Bram Stoker nominated novella, so more information coming on that soon, but needless to say, I’m giddy about the story that’s in progress.
I’ll have a prose poem titled Asphyxia, which will be in Chiral Mad 5 edited by Bram Stoker Award winning editor, Michael Bailey. This will be an amazing book I’d definitely try to snag a copy if possible. Some of the names include Linda D. Addison, Lucy Snyder, Christina Sng, Jamal Hodge and plenty of others!
My debut prose poetry collection Oblivion in Flux: A Collection of Cyber Prose will be released this August by Crystal Lake Publishers. Be on the lookout for more information as the time draws nigh!
You can find all of this on my website (which is updated sporadically): The Wells of the Weird. I am also on Facebook, Instagram (@cybergodwrites) and on Amazon. I’ve yet to join the twitterverse, but maybe someday.
[…] Interview link here. […]