Before I went to Spain, I thought a lot about culture, the Spanish language, and my desire -- this pounding desire -- to go to Spain. Last night I heard the poet/writer Ben Lerner talking about his latest novel, Leaving the Atocha Station; his narrator said he had the ability to romanticize everything when spoken in Spanish (not a direct quote.) I understand that. But I also know the Spanish language has an almost meditative flow, a lack of contractions, sound that is fluid and sensual. There is something about the Spanish language poets that, for me, solidified the power of language. I learned to appreciate imagery Spanish language poets use, to appreciate the use of Spanish language as a tool to build anything: the phonetic nature of the language allows you to build words from little parts, emphasizing each sound and roll.
I have been inexplicably drawn toward countries. Could it be the language? Could it be the place? Could it be that it was different? I have been thinking about a couple countries as if they're people I've met before, in a past life, people whose names I can't quite recall. People who I know I'll see again. I think a lot about location as a character. PANK Magazine has accepted four poems of mine, in a set called Andalucia. I started writing these before seeing Spain and finished them after seeing the country. The poems explore obsession and desire, by looking at place and ourselves. They'll run in December 2011. That magazine, of course, has always been so high quality and so stunning, so I'm honored.
