little brown sparrow
by Scot Young
I have found over the years there are poets that influence. Poets that spark something we may not even be aware of and poets you go back to because you can't get enough. MK Chavez is all three of these. I began reading her one day on the recommendation of William Taylor Jr. I found she is a woman who has walked in the shadows and the light and writes with intelligence on both. Chavez’s work tells a story that begins in the gut and hangs there like waiting for the day the ringing stops. She writes with passion and compassion.
At her website she writes: Poet MK Chavez writes about the beauty that can be found in ugliness, the mystery of feeling bad about feeling good, little birds, big consequences. She is co-host of Acker’s Dangerous Daughters, a San Francisco reading series of Cherry Bleeds. Her work has been published online and in print. Her poetry chapbook “Virgin Eyes” is available through Zeitgeist Press."Visitation" Chavez's second chapbook is available through Kendra Steiner Editions.
Scot: How do you mark your successes as a writer?
MK: I know that I'm doing ok when I feel dissatisfied.
Scot: If you were left with one book of poems--what would it be?
MK: If I had to choose today, it would be Woman Who Sprouted Wings which is an anthology of Latin American Women poets.
Scot: Do you see a gender bias when it comes to the poetry biz?
MK: Yes, but I don't think men should be discouraged. There are few interesting male poets that show great promise; they should just keep at it.
Scot: OK. My bad. Many say that nobody reads poetry anymore--if true why is that?
MK: I read poetry and you read poetry, so clearly that's factually incorrect. While it’s true that poetry doesn't hold the same social status that it may have once did, you know, in the days of yore…but it's still relevant and unlike other forms of documentation, poetry stands the test of time, if it’s good.
Scot: Many guys list Bukowski as an influence, who were your early influences when you began writing poetry? What led you to poetry?
MK: I don’t feel influenced, inspired yes, but influenced never. An early inspiration cocktail might be a combo of Sylvia Plath, Yehuda Amichai, Anne Carson, Sandra Cisneros, Luis Rodriguez, Lewis Carroll, Carolyn Forche, Margret Atwood, Ai, and Wanda Coleman
Scot: What is a MK Chavez poem?
MK:`I really hope I’m not that predictable.
Scot: How often do you write? Do you have a routine?
MK: Not so much of a routine; I write whenever I can, sometimes at 6am, sometimes at 2 am. If I’m at a boring event, sometimes I sneak off and find a place to write. I’ve written in all sorts of place. I do write everyday…I guess I’m a bit greedy that way.
Scot: OK, so why do you write?
MK: It’s the ultimate form of art, and the best form of rebellion
Scot: Who published your first chap and how did that materialize?
MK: My first chap was published by Zeitgeist Press. Bruce Issacson & Julia Vinograd, the editors at Zeitgeist provided all the support and guidance that any new author could want. And of course sharing the same press with writers like David Lerner, Jennifer Blowdryer, Joie Cook, Jan Steckel, Danielle Willis, and Jack Micheline is pretty sweet too.
Scot: What was your greatest writing accomplishment—what made it so?
MK: I’m not sure if it qualifies but quitting my job sure feels like a writing accomplishment…there’s more time to write now.
Scot: Is the Bay area the place to be for a poet? Does place influence the writing content or does it come from somewhere else?
MK: I have a bunch of different places that feel like “the place to be a poet,” so I guess it’s all relative. John Sweet says that his work is influenced by the cold winters in upstate New York, and I think he’s on to something because there is a very different feel to the work that I’ve written in New Orleans and the work that I’ve written in Hancock, New York.
Scot: What advice would you give a young poet?
MK: Don’t listen to advice from old poets
Scot: What is one thing about MK that we don't know but need to know?
MK: I have a pretty nice right hook.
Scot: What was your first published piece?
MK: My first publication was in the 2RiverView and two poems were published at the same time, one was Virgin Eyes, and the other was The Oldest Profession
Scot: It is the last poetry reading on earth, what will you read?
MK: Autobiography #6
Autobiography #6
I once dated a guy named Toast; I like
toast ok; but it makes me feel thirsty;
I like being in the desert; I’d rather die
in the heat than drown in the sea;
I don’t know how to swim; I like moist
toast, moist is a dirty word; I always knew
what I wanted to be; indelible ink;
don’t want to be erased; read
Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland five times
in a row; imagined the meaning
behind the words; I looked
and I looked for the opening;
this happened
when I was seven;
dusk is like people; my people;
caught in the in-between,
the middle, the limbo place; I am
haunted by my mother; she’s behind every door;
doors with splinters and rusted knobs;
and now the long shriek as they break
open; I am her; I am the product of an
immaculate conception; it wasn’t her fault;
she thought that she was giving birth
to a weapon; I turned out to be
a different kind of virgin; I was born
wearing a leather corset, red
lipstick, mist, damp fur, wet grass, rock salt;
if I had a superpower
it would be to evaporate; dust—
human dust; recipe as follows;
please to mix poetry and prose,
add water, make flesh; I live
amongst the Drosera capensis,
snap traps, and rain lamps; plastic wet
machine, my tongue laps up language;
I look at art; I look at you; I look
at art; I like to watch Cathead’s face,
the way the skin on her nose wrinkles
when she’s about to ask a question;
I’ll sweat it out in a small room
to hear Forche’s poems about ears;
tell me;
lets watch the red dust pour down
the white house walls; listen;
there is always someone being erased;
maybe i love sleep; the drowsy flesh
slow like;
yess…a good sensory buzz; Albuquerque,
sound of sizzle; hiss of the aerosol
can; a chemical kiss; the kind
that makes toast; i rubbed
that sharp rock, left a shiny spot
got on a train; i could say more;
but no; there’s an X here.
Scot: Ok, now your bio/memoir in six words?
MK: MK Chavez likes toast
Scot: What music do you listen to?
MK: I listen to everything, but I do go through phases, currently into Leadbelly, Leontyne Price, Melingo, Elvis Costello, Butthole Surfers, Pink Anderson, and Bajofondo
Scot: Do you listen to music when you write?
MK: Sometimes, but only music that has minimal or no lyrics at all.
Scot: What is next for MK Chavez?
MK: Some really cool projects. Paul Corman-Roberts, Tony Dushane, and I are in the deep in the editing process for Cherry Bleeds Greatest Hits, and I'm lucky enough to be one of the contributors in an upcoming Lummox anthology with William Taylor Jr. (who is also editing) Miles J. Bell,Christopher Cunningham, Father Luke, Hosho McCreesh, and Christopher Robin. I also have another chap with that hot little Texas press Kendra Steiner Editions that comes out in January.
Scot: What question do you wish you would have been asked?
MK: Tell me a secret
Scot: Ah, well then tell me a secret--something about Maria, that nobody else knows but you?
MK: The love of my life lives in Cornwall, England.
Find out more and what's next for MK Chavez at www.littlebrownsparrow.com
In another life Scot Young used to be a construction worker but for the last 19 years he has been paid to hang out with kids. He started writing poems again after a 30 year absence and has published one or two. He may be the only school principal in America to have all of Christopher Robin's books and he occasionally teaches a poetry class to the Breakfast Club. He once sang with Kenny Loggins and wrestler Dirty Dick Murdoch, but mainly he just puts bread on the table.
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