Damion Hamilton I am reading lit zines zygote, thieves jargon, and lit dispatch. Blowback I don't like zygote. Damion Hamilton Really? Why? Blowback Just don't think its that good. Blowback It's goofy. The name is stupid too. Damion Hamilton Yeah, it's a lot of bad stuff, but you can see some really good poems, every now and then if you look hard. Blowback Well if you look really hard is a bad sign already Blowback Damion Hamilton I don't know-- you gotta publish something, to pique interest. Even if a lot of the stuff is bad. But I enjoy reading the good and bad poems. Blowback So you advocate publishing bad poetry? Damion Hamilton You have too. Or else you might not publish anything at all I'm being generous when I say that perhaps ten percent of any magazine poems are going to be any good. But gets people interested in poetry and the arts, so I think it's a good thing. You gotta take the good with the bad. Blowback Bad poetry only serves to illuminate what you should not do Blowback I think all the poems I put on Blowback are good, if I didn't believe that I wouldn't put it on the site. Blowback If I have any doubts about the poem I reject it Damion Hamilton Maybe. But what's bad poetry. I think the stuff in poetry magazine is horrible, or the New Yorker, yet people read those journals Blowback Obviously bad poetry is subjective to the individual. New Yorker publishes a lot of junk in my mind Damion Hamilton I saw Robert Crumb in the New Yorker. Probably the only good thing I could say about it. Blowback New Yorker has some outstanding journalism; they have Seymour Hersh, who is one of the greatest journalists ever, the fiction I find lousy most of the time, Damion Hamilton Yeah, haven't checked it out-- in along time. I'll rather read Blowback Blowback Pauline Kael used to do film reviews for the New Yorker she is the best I've ever read, you should check out her book I Lost it at the Movies, or Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, all stuff she did in New Yorker Damion Hamilton Okay Blowback Did you check out any of the books I told you about? Damion Hamilton No. still reading Steinbeck. Put once me through with the list I'm on. Oh, send the list in an email. Blowback Send list in email? Damion Hamilton Yeah Blowback Well you either remember the stuff or you don't Damion Hamilton Ok Blowback The train passes the station only once here Damion Hamilton Oh, just send the list Blowback I have no list Blowback I gave you a few recommendations Damion Hamilton Fine. I only remember Orwell Blowback Well what's the point of writing something if you don't remember or write it down? Suggests lack of interest Damion Hamilton No it's not that. I just and extensive reading list. Steinbeck Dreiser, Tolstoy. Long novels Blowback So how many books do you read in a month? Damion Hamilton Maybe three. It's harder to read more than that. Damion Hamilton War and Peace took me forever to read Blowback And did you like it, one of your poems glorifies Tolstoy, and you say there is no mind out there like him anymore. Damion Hamilton Oh, it's the greatest novel I have read. Yeah, perhaps he's the greatest novelist. But there are other great minds who are his equal. Nietzsche, Shakespeare, Plato, Homer, Dostoyevski, Spinoza, Kant, Emerson Aldous Huxley. Yeah a lot great minds Blowback Have you actually read these people or is this name dropping? For instance tell me the Spinoza you have read. Damion Hamilton Yeah, and many more. Not everything but a lot those authors work. I?m a bibliophile. Even though I?m a bad speller Blowback What specifically about Spinoza impressed you? Blowback I hope this long pause isn't you going to Wikipedia to digest something quickly to regurgitate it back to me here. lol Damion Hamilton Can't really remember-- I haven't read him extensively. No, just trying to remember. It was years ago since I read him. I love Wikipedia. I can spend hours looking at it. Blowback So I'm curious, why would you put a guy Spinoza on a list of writers who you've hardly read and can't remember anything about? The reason I ask is people I find often cite writers or things they know little or nothing about as "influences". Damion Hamilton Yeah you're right. But I wouldn't say he's an influence. The problem reading philosophy though, is that one forgets who said what. Unless you have their book sitting write their in front of you. Blowback So you are experiencing the process of reading and then remembering little of what you read!!! Not an unfamiliar occurrence for many. Damion Hamilton No I think you remember everything you read. It's just buried in the subconscious, and not readily available. If you read it. Blowback So Spinoza is somewhere buried in you just waiting to be found, the little bit of him you've read? lol Blowback How long might this take to retrieve? Damion Hamilton lol. I'm sure he is Blowback Well have you read the Death of Ivan Illych? Damion Hamilton Yes sir. A rich man on his death dead reflects on his life and family, and realized he lived a false life. Blowback I see you retained that one! lol, yes I loved that one Damion Hamilton A recurrent theme in Tolstoy's work is how childhood was happiest part of a character's life. There was a passage in there about it. and in other Tolstoy's stories. Blowback so it seems reading your poetry, and assuming that it reflects back something about you, that you are a lonely guy, who likes to drink to get buzzed, watch people and contemplate things to write about, and then perhaps, bump into a hooker, to get over the denial of the pretty girl you didn't get, and brood over the cruelty and boredom of the work grind and inhumanity of the machine! Damion Hamilton wow. almost accurate. Damion Hamilton yeah, there's a lot of that in my work. but I don't need a pretty girl. they are nice though. and I?m not really that lonely. but I don like to contemplate people and things. Blowback you don't need a pretty girl why not? Blowback isn't this the universal aspiration? Damion Hamilton nobody needs a pretty girl-- they are nice though Blowback so how does poetry fit into your search for meaning in life? Damion Hamilton Yeah. Ever read that short story by Hemingway called soldier's home he's explains going without women perfectly. you need food water, shelter, to get rid of waste. but a pretty girl. Damion Hamilton No, I write to entertain myself Blowback that's it? Entertainment. So poetry is say better alternative than say the Gong Show on the Game Show Channel or big time wrestling? Damion Hamilton Yeah, a much better alternative than those two mediums. Blowback So you have no pretension of poetry as an art, or the search for fame, or advancing civilization, or providing you with meaning in life? Damion Hamilton No. I do think if more people read the poets, the world would be better though. And there's a lot of meaning in poetry. But I read so little. How many people have read Shakespeare? And he's very famous. Blowback So what do you think poetry's place in the world is or should be? Damion Hamilton Poetry is human creativity. I think human creativity is the greatest thing we have Blowback So how does that answer my question? Damion Hamilton Music, art, language, science. these are all very important Damion Hamilton Poetry will always be here, and there's a need for it. But I don't what place it should be. Blowback So do you desire to be a famous poet? Damion Hamilton Perhaps? There's an obvious desire to communicate though, that's why I send my stuff out and read the zines and little magazines. Blowback What poets are the greatest inspiration to you? Damion Hamilton Bukowski, Whitman, Rumi, Shakespeare, Li Po, Pablo Neruda, TS Eliot, the old poets you know in life, who are not authors and have no fame Damion Hamilton Dante, Villion, Baudelaire, so many Blowback why do you like Bukowski? Damion Hamilton Great poet. A great writer is someone you can learn a lot from. There's a lot of wisdom in his work. Steinbeck and Sherwood Anderson, and Henry miller are others who inspire. Blowback In your in poem Of the Day, you have a crush on an Indian girl. Does poetry ever help you get a chick to dig you? Damion Hamilton No. that girl was kind man. I use to go to into the store and see her everyday, and she had the prettiest smile. none of the customers would talk to her though. so I would speak to her. She came all the way from India and seemed lonely, but I wasn't after, she was married though. Damion Hamilton I don't show people my poetry, except editors. so it doesn?t help me get girls. Blowback Did the Indian girl ever see the poem? Damion Hamilton No never showed. Never told ever I wrote or anything. We just talked small talk and about her family. Blowback Why don't you show her it? Perhaps it would thrill her. Damion Hamilton Never thought of doing that. I can't now, she moved a few months ago Women like seem to always move away. Blowback huh? Damion Hamilton Yeah, whenever I like a girl, they move away. It seems like it. Blowback So nobody who knows you is aware you are a poet? Damion Hamilton Not really, I don't broadcast. I do tell people I write sometimes. Blowback Why don't you tell anybody? Damion Hamilton It's a private thing. I don't want people to treat me different, I guess Blowback Different? How would they do that if they heard you were a poet? Damion Hamilton I don't know. People have an image of poetry in their minds, something they learned in school, which boring to them. Blowback How often do you write? Damion Hamilton I don't have a set routine. There are times when I write everyday for months. And there are times it will be a couple of weeks before I write anything. The last time I wrote something was last Friday Damion Hamilton You need a break from writing, or else you find yourself writing the same things over and over. Blowback Yes, I actually noticed you have used in your poems upon reading them again, some standard phrases such as "I watch the girls and boys and police and dogs, etc" lists of things you watch. Damion Hamilton Yeah, sometimes you want to write a poem, a short story, a play or a comedy routine. I eventually want to write a novel though. Blowback So you want to expand your writing forms to include a novel. What would it be about? Damion Hamilton Haven't figured it out. I have an idea, but I don't want to say. or else it might end up being about something else. Blowback Do you feel alienated? Damion Hamilton No. Working keeps me from feeling alienated. I'm right in the world, with everyone else Blowback You say you are not lonely, but your poems are filled with thoughts of loneliness, you say you are not alienated, but alienation runs rampant in your poems. How do you explain this? Damion Hamilton I don't think about loneliness or alienation much, if my work happens to be filled with things it's accidental and not intentional. Blowback So what do you hope to accomplish with your life? Damion Hamilton I have no idea. Live the best you can, and write the best you can Blowback Do you believe in God? Damion Hamilton Yeah Blowback So does this belief at all affect your poetry? Damion Hamilton I'm not sure Blowback Do you read your poetry at open mike nights? Damion Hamilton No. It seems embarrassing Blowback I agree with that sentiment Blowback Reading poetry loses the visual aspect that is poetry?s essence Damion Hamilton Seems to be more about acting than poetry. Blowback Yes I agree with that, backslapping kind of phony camaraderie, touching the audience kind of stuff Damion Hamilton It's popular though; there are a couple of open mikes around here that do pretty well. It?s not my thing though. Blowback Good for you! Blowback But you like to hang at starbucks! Damion Hamilton No, I haven't hung in Starbucks in a long time. but you?re making me long for a tall iced mocha. Blowback Do you sit with a Che Guevara T Shirt, with Death, Resistance and Rebellion book and an Ipod? Damion Hamilton Venti caramel macchiato Blowback I hate that venti crap, it?s so pompous. When I?m forced to go there because of some girl, I always insist on saying small, medium or large Damion Hamilton Not tall? Starbucks has such a comfortable atmosphere-- it's like being somewhere else. the comfortable seats, the music, the coffee lingo, the workers... something strange about Decaf latte? Three shots expresso. Blowback I think the place is sickeningly McSterile, and the site of people hanging out there and the poses they strike disturbs me. Blowback The company seems to have a Genghis Khan conquering desire to be on every street corner, it feels creepy, like something out of Orwell. Damion Hamilton Me too. there's a lot cute girls hang out there though. Blowback Girls love that place, I have been forced by more than one hot chick into going there. Blowback You say "me too" to my observations then you tell me how you like the place and find it comfortable etc, what swings here? Damion Hamilton Hot chicks and Starbucks go together. Damion Hamilton I like to watch people on their laptops working away and sipping their coffee. Blowback how boring is that? Damion Hamilton Very Blowback So why do you seek it out? Damion Hamilton It's not intentional-- it just happens. Blowback How much poetry do you write and then throw away? Damion Hamilton Lots of it, but I notebooks, and write a first draft, and a lot don't make it to a second draft- Blowback Do you want an MFA in creative writing? Damion Hamilton That would be nice. I don't know why. Blowback What would be nice about it? Damion Hamilton I'm kidding. I don't think creative writing can be taught. It's kind of ridiculous that a MFA in creative writing exists. Blowback I agree, it's a money machine for universities. Blowback So how are you going to diversify your poetry in future? Damion Hamilton It's the establishment, a club. There's no intention of it. Blowback intention of what? Damion Hamilton Of diversifying it Blowback Why not? Damion Hamilton I don't know. You write what you feel. It's that inspiration thing. I do want to write really long poems like Dante and Milton. Blowback Well, Bukowski later tried sonnets. Damion Hamilton Really? Blowback So you want Paradise Lost and Hells Inferno or the Wasteland Hamilton style? Blowback Yes he did. Damion Hamilton Yeah, Paradise Lost is brilliant. Blowback I meant to ask you, you said I wasn't a"liberal" editor what did you mean? Damion Hamilton Oh, you're very selective in what you publish. That's all. Not a whole lot of people in your zine. Blowback Oh I see, because in my subject matters I certainly am liberal, lol Damion Hamilton Yeah. Blowback So is there anything you want to say that I haven't asked you? Damion Hamilton I have a book out at lulu.com and Dis Press. Some Days Are Without Magic. My first one. Blowback What is this site? Damion Hamilton They sell books like amazon.com Blowback How did you arrange this? Damion Hamilton A publisher in Athens Georgia wanted to publish some of my work in book form, Published and unpublished work, so I let him. Blowback And how did you meet him? Damion Hamilton By submitting to his magazine. And knew about me, from seeing my work in the magazines. Blowback Well good for you! I probably have enough now I think to post your interview Damion Hamilton thanks Johnny-- it was good talking to you. much luck with blowback-- you do a good job with it. Look forward to reading new poems Blowback We've done like six hours of interview here. Can you believe it. Damion Hamilton It's harder than writing the poem or story. Blowback Really why? Damion Hamilton You're analyzing yourself, and becoming self conscious of what you write, and how others perceive. Something I never thought about. Blowback So is this desirable? Damion Hamilton Yes. Blowback lol Blowback Well, I see you went from being caught off guard by the first interview to being totally non surprised in the second lol Damion Hamilton Oh yeah Damion Hamilton You're tough man. Blowback tough? Blowback why? Damion Hamilton Confrontational Blowback Did this perception make you uncomfortable? Damion Hamilton A tad Damion Hamilton I'm still walking. lol Blowback lol Blowback is promoting you and your poetry so why did you feel like it was confrontational? Damion Hamilton I'm stumped. Blowback hmmm, but words are your game! Damion Hamilton I know, but I tired of being a writer. Blowback Tired? what does that mean, are you contemplating giving it up? Damion Hamilton It's hard to keep going. Blowback You mean writers block or this interview? Damion Hamilton Both Damion Hamilton lol Blowback Ok, but I'm still stymied by the question of how you felt blowback confrontational when it's promoting you? Damion Hamilton Me too Damion Hamilton Some of questions cause me to do some soul searching. That's what I meant Blowback lol I would like to think that I was challenging you to answer questions with more illumination Blowback ahhh there..........soul searching made you uncomfortable then! lol Damion Hamilton Yeah. Blowback That is funny! Damion Hamilton I was expecting fluff. Blowback So did you expect to be soul searched when you agreed to the interview? Damion Hamilton No-- a soft interview Blowback Fluff! did you think my first interview was fluff? Blowback Or you never read it.... lol be truthful Damion Hamilton no.