Anyone happening across Ace Boggess's poetry in one of the many online and print journals in which it has appeared will be struck by the ethereal combination of meaning and imagery. "Is there something inevitable / in the avant-garde culture of a kiss . . .?" he asks. Who knows? And perhaps it is that very cryptic, at times ambiguous nature of his work which grants it such strange power.
Though he jokes that "thumbscrews" drove him to writing the poetry and existential
novels on which he concentrates, they were not necessary for long. Boggess has been writing fro publication for 11 years and has found success in literary journals such as The Baltimore Review and with chapbooks of his poetry.
. . . .Icarus had
plastic wings. What would you use for yours?
His current triumphs have come with the rejection and occasional failure present in every writer's life. "Being rejected is okay," Boggess says. "I almost always use rejection as an opportunity to revise. However, I despise form letters. Some days I just prefer to have an editor say, 'I've lined my bird cage with your poems, and if you like Polly's opinion, he's already given a review.'"
Now, however, Boggess is dealing with a different sort of problem--wrapping up work on the full-length book, Whispered Meditation from a Fugue, from which most of his poems in this issue of TPR are excerpted. "[Whispered Meditation from a Fugue] doesn't represent the type of work I do. Originally, I set out to write a single, book-length poem using any bizarre idea that came to me, but tying them all together around a single theme: the concept of a man torn between two women. There were rambling philosophical meditations in almost essay-like form, elements of a song I wrote back in college, lines carved in my own version of Beat-style cut-up method, more traditional poetic incursions, metaphors and allusions left and right. Then I transformed the poem temporarily into a short story of sorts, though that never quite worked, So, finally, I went back and weeded out the weakest parts of the book, rewriting and reshaping when needed. That gave me the form for Whispered Meditation from a Fugue as it stands now." But these things are never quite done. "It's an experimental book, and experiments like rivers are always in the processes of becoming," he advises.
Be ye not deceived by philosophers--
their lifeless gray wit in cynical rapture,
denial's easy spa.
Balance is key. Boggess spends time with journals such as American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophy and Literature, Ohio Review, Harvard Review, and Crab Orchard Review. "Anything with good poetry or challenging insights into the human animal." While he lists Hesse, Camus, and Kundera among his favorite authors, William Burroughs has had the biggest influence on his life. "[His
work] showed me how one can open up and keep nothing in reserve." And while writing is his life's passion, Boggess uses music to complement his reading. "Sarte and Pink Floyd go well together, or maybe Camus and Rusted Root."
We hope for dreams that are true
& love that's profoundly real in space &time.
While dreams are one thing, it is a hard road to publication, and Boggess knows the turns. "Writing talent or even craft can only take you so far," he insists. "If a writer has no experiences to write about, nothing good can come from it. Even less literary writers of things like science fiction and romance must be out in the world trying to understand the political systems through history or the basic human psychology. A writer is well served learning sociology, philosophy, history."
Boggess is generally positive about the current publishing climate online. "Early on e-zines were much less selective about the work they published, and so much pointless drivel made it through. These days, however, web journals are catching up in the standards they set. Boggess lists Red Booth Review,
The Cortland Review, and Poetry Daily among his favorite e-publications. "All in all more places to publish is a good thing for everyone involved."
In closing, Boggess advises that he would not change a thing about the life he has led. "I write what I write because I've seen the things I've seen and done the things I've done. To change any detail might change those scenes or give them a different perspective from which I might have viewed them"--certainly sound advice for anyone. Judging by his work, Boggess has not only had an interesting journey, but a beautiful one as well.
