An Interview with Christian Thiede

Past Megaera contributor Christian Thiede has just published a new poetry chapbook titled Random Poems Now With Homes. Let's see if we can get him to answer a few questions for us.

Megaera: Your aptly-titled chapbook, Random Poems Now With Homes, features quite a mix of subjects both erotic and religious, funny and depressing, as well as surreal and natural. Was this an intentional arrangment or did they just get thrown together at random?

Christian Thiede: The arrangement was intentionally generated by random. That is, all my poems were sequentially inserted into a database using a max +1 algorithm key. A program was written to access this database using a random integer generator class (built-in function) ranging between 1 and max executing until 13 unique poems were chosen. Thus the House That Random Built. Only kidding, yet an intriguing idea for the future. But truth be told, the features for The Random House Poetry Readings at Carroll Community College were encouraged by the English Department Chair to have something to sell because the event is considered 'very prestigious' and a collection of poems in print would be 'validating.' So moi got the message and the 13 poems that were selected to be performed became a chapbook titled Random Poems Now With Homes, a play on their venue name that was rhythmic, metered and rhymed. The selection process was simply to include previously published work (think prestigious and validating) with a couple of new pieces that would read well to a collegiate crowd.

M: What would you say are your poetic influences?

CT: My initial creative writing influences came from reading novels, not poetry. My youth was filled with running around playing sports or hanging with friends. Too busy and hyper to read outside the classroom. It was not until a year after college that I read Catcher in the Rye and became instantly addicted to literature. J. D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Joseph Heller, John Irving, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Chaim Potok, Philip Roth, Jerzy Kosinski, D. H. Lawrence, Kurt Vonnegut, etc. were devoured within 2-3 years or so. This continued for another decade with only occasional books of poetry. That is the vantage point from which I started to write poems and later to attend open mics. Now, I average reading 6-7 books a month with 1-2 being poetry plus chapbooks. As far as poetry, my favorites are Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Tony Hoagland, Kerry Shawn Keys, even Jim Morrison, and many fine poets who I have met that are little published (but I want to assist in changing that).

M: I got the distinct impression many of these poems were meant to be read outloud. Some have a bit of a musical quality to them. Do you think poems are better outloud or in print?

CT: As I said above these poems were selected for a feature. But in general poems I write are read out loud to get a better feel of flow and sound. I highly recommend reading publicly (at open mics). Performing in front of a crowd amplifies one's sensitivity to a poem. There is no substitute for it. The musical quality might come from my years of playing piano and guitar (self-taught on both) and composing songs. I've always loved music.

Some poems perform well, but are pathetic on the page. Usually a narrative that is too simple and repetitive. I rarely if ever write these types. Some poems are great on the page, but do not perform well because the language is dense and connectors so sparse that the words must be seen for the brain to comprehend. I have some of these types, but you will not hear them at open mics except maybe when I first write them. But most of my poetry is geared toward working both on the page and on the stage. Each has its place.

M: I noticed that you favor alliteration over rhyme. Also, some of the poems have surprise endings which I really liked. What inspires you to write poetry?

CT: Rhyme schemes can be very confining. Nowadays we have the freedom of formlessness. I do have rhyming and metered poems, but to always write in that style is a jail sentence for me. Alliteration is a great way to play with sound that is not restricted.

Sometimes the endings surprise me. Sometimes the entire poem surprises me. Many times they start with a feeling or phrase/opening line and combust from there. Even in the editing/rework process there are unforeseen turns and twists. The approach is to get out of the way and let the poem write itself as it is already in the ethers. One just has to be open to receive and then write it down.

Life inspires poetry. We are only trying to do the impossible. Capture life with cumbersome imperfect gape-holed language. Share that experience we sensed to obliterate the loneliness of separation we take on in a body and bring in the Oneness that really is. Bond the so-called gap.

M: Talk about Eyes Slanted Toward Heaven. It's a political poem, but there's a lot more going on there.

CT: This poem came about after meeting Tera, a Cambodian woman who at age 8 with most of her family escaped the Khmer Rouge when they marched through the countryside killing everyone they could find. These murderers of Pol Pot's were mostly teenagers who were evenly armed with machetes and bamboo sticks, or guns of some sort. The poem is about a 12 year old boy hiding in jungle holding his little sister's hand after the massacre recalling the day's horrific events and wishing he could erase the experience from memory. Freud might say I am the big brother and Tera is the little sister. That I am trying to soothe, comfort, and protect her. That I want to erase this horror from her life and memory banks (mine too). A political analyst in the States might say the USA is the big brother and Cambodia the little sister. That the USA did nothing to stop the carnage and wants to deny any responsibility. A Historian might say it is the bloody struggle for power and control of a country during a revolution or civil war. A Human Rights Watcher might say it's the story of man's inhumanity towards itself. Whatever the view point, it is disturbing. I only hope that as the human species evolves ever upward this behavior will cease and desist.

M: You end with Strange Magnet, a kind of love letter to Harrisburg. How has living in Harrisburg helped/hindered you as a poet?

CT: Strange Magnet started out as a 'love letter' to a barista, but turned into a 'Harrisburg' poem. First let me say that I have lived in 12 states, but 3 locations dominate my address book: Huntington, NY (where I grew up), Boulder, CO and Harrisburg, PA. Boulder and Harrisburg I have lived in twice. Their landscape leaps into lyrics. Boulder is rocked by mountains and Harrisburg is gorged by river. Boulder is more ethereal, wide-open, and baked healthy by the sun. Harrisburg is more personal, closed-in, and mothered under the cloud-cover. The muse runs rampant in both. I consider each my home. Harrisburg has a close knit group of writers that support each other. It really is a terrific spawning pond to create. For such a small populated area (200K) there are a surprising number of artists.

M: What's your favorite color?

CT: "Blue! No Yellow! Aah!!!!!" (Holy Grail Monty Python). Seriously, depends on my mood, but overall in the last decade it would have to be green, a forest green. As in the heart (5th) chakra or say the cover of this chapbook.

For information about Random Poems Now With Homes please contact the poet.