Since 1970 John Yamrus has published 2 novels and 14 volumes of poetry. He has also published more than 800 poems in print magazines around the world. Many of his poems have appeared in translation in Spanish, Italian, Swedish, and Japanese. Most recently, three of his poems have been published in translation in the current issue of the Romanian magazine Convorbiri Literare.
His most recent book of poetry is Blue Collar.
PoetryCircle: John, when did you start writing poetry--and why?
Yamrus: God, I was just a kid, teenage. In high school. I started writing for the girls. I tell this story all the time and it's true. I started writing because I was too small for the football team and not good enough for the baseball team and pretty soon I discovered that I could write. There were some girls that liked that. And pretty soon I discovered that the better I wrote, the prettier the girls got. I got good real fast.
PoetryCircle: How has your work evolved? Did you always adopt a conversational tone in your poetry?
Yamrus: I was just talking about this this morning. As I've grown older the themes have grown simpler, smaller. Less complex. And the language I use has become more and more conversational. I'm really dancing on a thread and when it works it's nice, but when it doesn't and a poem goes bad it's really bad and I hate it.
PoetryCircle: Your work focuses on the minutia of daily living, the small things--your dog sitting on the couch, looking at you, a visit to the bank, a letter you received from a fan. I assume you didn't start out writing this way, since most beginning poets don't. Am I right?
Yamrus: Yeah, I started out wanting to write a great poem. But really great poems don't exist anymore. The last great poem written was Howl. I just don't see poetry mattering that much anymore, mattering so much that one amazing poem can just turn things over all at once. Great poems? Sure, there's great poems, but poems with impact as well? It's just not going to happen.
Did you ever read Bukowski's fantastic poem
"Bluebird"?
PoetryCircle: Yes, a nice one.
Yamrus: Now
there's a great poem, but it took his entire volume of work to make an impact. One Bukowski poem or one poem by anyone today will never do it.
PoetryCircle: Where do you see your work on the continuum of contemporary poetry? I suppose here that I'm asking about your primary influences--but also your goals, where you see your work headed.
Yamrus: Where am I headed? If I knew I'd make plans to get there early, but I don't. Right now I'm just riding the wave and taking advantage of the fact that in the last three years I finally figured out
how to write. I mean; my first book came out in 1970.
I've been publishing a long long time. I'm 55 now and it seems like I had to do a lot of writing and pay a lot of dues before I finally really figured it out. Does that make any sense? God, it sounds so arrogant to even be saying that. I don't mean it to say that I've figured it out and solved the mystery--well, maybe for me, I have. Maybe the mystery is in not caring--or caring so much that you enjoy every moment of the trip. It's like that guy who jumps off the building and is yodelling all the way down. Enjoying the ride.
PoetryCircle: Influences of writers like Bukowski and Locklin are evident in your work. Are any of the younger poets writing today of interest to you?
Yamrus: Bukowski, certainly. He's like the 800 pound gorilla in the room, isn't he? I mean, he's published more poems posthumously than most working poets do in a lifetime.
I hear, though, that ECCO will be bringing out the final posthumous volume shortly. And that'll be it. He sure did have a great run, though, didn't he?
And Locklin? what a great guy! He and I go back a long time. Back in the '70s I used to publish two literary quarterlies, small magazines, and Locklin was a regular contributor. He's truly amazing. He's just published his 123rd book. More than 3,000 poems.
I'm a rookie compared to him. Also, there's a guy out in California named RD Armstrong who writes like an angel with his hair on fire. Great stuff. Really, with the exception of Bukowski, most of the best poetry you'll read today you won't find in the book stores. You've got to dig for it.
PoetryCircle: Does formal verse intrigue you in any respect?
Yamrus: Not in the least. There's a great little Bukowski poem that always comes to mind when I think of all the "New Formalists" and what they're trying to bring back; it's just one word on a line. I think it goes like this:
as
the
spirit
wanes
the
form
appears.
Meaning that the less you have to say, the more of a crutch you need. For me, it's a hinderance. It makes it too easy.
PoetryCircle: Some poets believe that one writes poetry because one has to. Do you feel this way?
Yamrus: I always felt that to be a bit of an arrogant approach: "ahem, I write because i'm
compelled...
driven." Me? I write because I get a kick out of it, because at times I'm pretty good at it. And because I like being able to make something show up on the page that wasn't there before. Sometimes I don't figure it out until after I'm done writing it. What was that Willie Mays once said? "I don't rate 'em; I just catch 'em."
PoetryCircle: Robert Creeley wrote a book with a wonderful title, taken from the reaction a student had to one of his pieces:
Was that a real poem? I bet you've had some interesting reactions to your work over the years. Can you recount for us any memorable comments you've received?
Yamrus: I get that one all the time!
People either get my poems on an immediate gut level, or they don't, and they never will.
No, I can't off the top of my head recall any interesting comments concerning my work over the years, but I recently had something happen at a reading that helps keep things in perspective for me. A couple of months ago, when my book
One Step At a Time came out, I was doing a reading, signing at a Barnes and Noble. It was pretty well attended and I think I did pretty well. Well, after the reading was over, I'm sitting at the table signing the books and there's a short line of people waiting for me to sign. Not a long line, but enough of a line to have me feeling pretty good about myself. Then up comes this girl with one of my books in her hands--young girl, 18, 19--I don't know. Anyway, I see her coming and I practically start tossling my hair to give it my best "poet" look, and she comes up to me and says:
"Mr Yamrus?"
"Yes?"
"Ah, well, I go to the local college and I've been assigned to do an article on your reading and, uh, well, I got here late and missed the reading, so I guess I'm going to have to buy one of your books. So, could you please mark off the poems you read and tell me how you did?"
PoetryCircle: Have you considered teaching?
Yamrus: No, you've read my poem "
once again" in which I recount my experience as a guest editor at an online poetry site. It wasn't pretty. I'm too old to waste my time or theirs by trying to come up with something encouraging to say about about some lousy poetry. I don't want to be the one to give anyone any false illusions about their work. There's too many scam artists out there, ready, willing and able to separate some starry-eye'd poetry wannabe from their money. I won't be a part of it, not even indirectly.
PoetryCircle: What's your attitude toward poetry readings--both giving them and listening to them?
Yamrus: I love the hell out of giving readings because I'm a bit of a ham and get a kick out of performing my stuff. I hate those "poet voices" most poets assume as soon as they go into their stance to deliver a poem. I'm ready to poke my eyes out when I see that coming. Now when I do my readings If there's an open mic also scheduled for that evening I make sure that it's for after I'm done so I can get the hell out of there really quick.
PoetryCircle: How would you respond to someone who said that your verse is not poetry but simply prose cut up into lines?
Yamrus: When I'm doing it badly, it is!
PoetryCircle: How do you feel about taking your verse to the Internet and having it displayed on sites such as PoetryCircle?
Yamrus: The world's changing. The Internet's a necessary evil--and a powerful tool. Because of the internet I've got readers I never would have had before; it's been a great thing for book sales. And I'm not one of those writers who acts like it's a dirty thing to want to have your book sell well. The way I look at it, you're in this thing to have as many people read your work as possible. Also, I think it's a bit of a debt being returned to your publisher. They've been crazy enough to spend their hard-earned money on publishing your stuff so, it's the least you can do to return the favor and try and get as many sold as possible.
PoetryCircle: What would you say are some of the biggest mistakes that beginning poets tend to make? What advice could you give them to help keep the rejection slips from becoming overwhelming and discouraging?
Yamrus: People get one or two rejections and think they're done. I just read an interview with Lynn Lifshin; she's like Locklin: hugely prolific, the queen of the small presses, and in the interview she said that even after all these years she still gets rejections. It's just part of the game. If you can't stand the rejection, go paint houses.
PoetryCircle: Thanks, John.
Yamrus: No, Jay. Thank you.
Interview conducted by Jay Dougherty. Copyright 2006.
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