Moving Galleries

Experiences, influences and advice

A writer of poetry, short stories and novels, Michael de Valle’s poetry has featured in both the Moving Galleries pilot and the Spring 2007 Exhibition. Moving Galleries editor, and poet, Lea Hills, approached Michael to discuss his influences.

LH: What sort of experiences do you draw on in your writing?

MdV: Sometimes I draw on my own experiences as a starting point, but more often my writing comes out of human observation and circumstance - being open to those moments and details that make us truly human:

terminal
she starts to rewrite
her diary

nativity play
an angel
picks her nose

I also draw on my observations of nature because I’m interested in how we interact as humans with our environment, in particular how we relate to animals, insects, birds and plants:

hospital courtyard
told he won’t go home
he watches a butterfly

our old dog
buried in the garden
with all her bones

LH: Being a stay-at-home dad, how does this influence your work?

MdV: I’ve always been interested in writing about the extraordinary moments to be found in ‘ordinary’ life. Being a stay-at-home dad is great because I’ve been able to develop a deeper relationship with my sons and a better understanding of what is really important in our lives together. It feeds my writing because I get to observe my children at close quarters, the way they interact with the world, their relationships, their dreams and aspirations.

The horizon of his dreams

(for Jack)

He’s flying again
nose-diving
under cloud coloured ceilings
banking left
of the fluorescent sun
taking the room
with me
blowing raspberries
for an engine.

He casts an eagle shadow
across the archipelago
of furniture and toys
shoots down his mother
in a volley of giggles
circles the kitchen table
a reconnaissance above suburbs
of saucers, cups and plates
sets his flight path
for the horizon of his dreams
with me
following in tight formation
the holding pattern
beneath his wings

This is flight training
for us both
he knows I’d never let him go
just as I know
eventually
he’ll let go of me

LH: Thoughts on love?

MdV: To me, love is as much a choice as it is an emotion. And love is behind some of the hardest choices we make:

together again
under the bed
her shoes and mine

after she leaves
a hair on the pillow
curled into a question

LH: Have you any advice for aspiring poets?

MdV: I don’t know if I have any real advice for poets except that, like all artists and writers, right now we need them more than ever. In many respects they voice the conscience of the world. It’s no coincidence that when dictators come to power they go after the artists, writers, poets and intellectuals first.

A poet I greatly admire is Charles Bukowski. His poetry is written in the accessible language of the ordinary man and he wrote about his life with unflinching honesty. A few years ago I wrote a poem called ‘how to be a poet’ as both a send up and a salute to him:

How to be a poet
(with apologies to charles bukowski)

first get a job
no shame in that
it’s always good to eat
and pay the rent
with something left over
for paper, pens and beer
or a nice piece of ass

stay up all night
drink a lot
and then some more
and bathe when you can
no longer stand yourself

allow your heart

to be broken and fixed
again and again
make loneliness a friend
let the world crap on you
from a height
everything is
‘grist for the mill’

and write
you’ve got to write
but keep it in perspective
remember these are poems
they don’t have the power
of money, guns or bombs
if they did
bin laden would have
written bush a sonnet

look for the poetic instance
in the great works
the universe
late night tv
the supermarket
or a nice piece of ass

and when you find it
you must write it
like it’s never been written
or said
you must put the words together
again and again
for the first time

To see Michael de Valle’s poetry and biography click here