Point of Entry: A Conversation with Katherine DiBella Seluja + An Awesome Prompt!

poetry & flash fiction

(Photo credit: Thomas DiBella)

“…somehow the flash part of my brain has license to go a little crazy in a way the poetry side doesn't…Somehow I feel more restrained in poetry and in flash it's like the windows are open, my head's sticking halfway out, the seatbelt's broken, and we're driving on only two wheels.”

Hi friends,

Today, I have the great honor and pleasure of chatting with my friend, poet and flash fiction writer Katherine DiBella Seluja, about her recently published collection, POINT OF ENTRY (University of New Mexico Press). Readers of The Art of Flash Fiction know I find the line between poetry and flash very blurry, and so much of Katherine’s exquisite writing straddles that line. I highly recommend this gorgeous book! We discuss three of my favorite poems from the collection below. And be sure to read all the way to the end for the awesome ekphrastic writing prompt Katherine shares with us.

Katherine DiBella Seluja is a poet and a micro fiction writer. Her most recent collection, Point of Entry focuses on immigration and ancestral history. Her previous books are Gather the Night and We Are Meant to Carry Water (co-author). Katherine’s poem, November Fruit is on permanent display at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. Katherine is a poetry editor at Unbroken Journal. She lives in Santa Fe, NM.

“In this remarkable collection, Katherine DiBella Seluja explores issues surrounding human migration, juxtaposing poems about the current struggles along the US-Mexico border with her ancestors’ experiences of migrating from Italy. Rich in sonic and sensory detail, these poems speak to the strength and resilience of those who leave their ancestral homes in search of safety and opportunities to thrive.”

“Caceroleada”

“The pot was tired of being struck. It wanted simply to fall apart.”

KATHY: To me, this piece could be seen as a serial or a mosaic flash. A story is being told here. You give us the same event from three different perspectives and from three moments in time. What is the background for this piece?

KATHERINE: Caceroleada is the name of a form of grass roots protest that occurs in many countries and especially in countries in Latin America. Gustavo* recalls one in particular that happened in his country, Uruguay, during the military dictatorship. This would have been in the 1980s. This is the period of time when Argentina was under military control as well and many many citizens in both countries were disappearing, los desaparecidos. Gus says, they used to scroll the names and pictures of the newly arrested on the news every night on TV. A terrifying experience for everyone, and especially a child. He has told me this story often and for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about it and so the actual story became the impetus for this varied perspective piece of writing.

The form of this "triptych" is mirrored in the piece called “Angel Studies.” Gustavo has described to me the experience of being outside of his house, maybe on his roof, at night and all the lights in the neighboring houses were turned off. Slowly, in the distance, a rhythmic kind of metallic sound could be heard. And that sound grew and grew and came closer to his house, until he realized many of his neighbors were outside in their yards, on their front steps, banging at pots and pans with whatever they happened to grab from the kitchen. It may not be obvious to the reader, but that rhythmic banging sound is the undercurrent of this piece for me. The power of that, the unity of that, the simplicity of making noise in whatever way possible as a form of protest is haunting. And obviously seems quite germane for us today in the US. Of course, on a superficial level, the piece is kind of silly and I think I had to write it that way as a form of survival and contrast against the incredible intensity of dictatorship and loss of human rights (sound familiar?)

*Katherine’s husband

“Freight Train”

“Night comes with the roar of crickets and the flash of fireflies. Fire flies from the rails as the speeding train crushes the coins flat.”

KATHY: "Freight Train" is one of my favorites from Point of Entry. I've heard of "word chains" (beginning each new line with the word or phrase that ends the previous line) but have never tried this myself. I think this is one of the best examples I've seen of a word chain piece in that it's never clunky. The movement from sentence to sentence feels smooth and unobtrusive. The key here is "movement" in this piece because it truly moves along, each sentence building on the one before it, each taking the reader further down the tracks. It's a remarkable piece and another piece I'd have no trouble calling a breathless one paragraph flash. When I teach that form, I always say there needs to be a shift at some point around the middle of the paragraph. You achieve this perfectly when you break the word chain here:

"Puddles led to other dark places. One day my brother fell in."

And then the train continues, but has shifted gears. I found "In my version of his life..." so heartbreaking and poignant and it's followed by some hardness, even violence between them as the bottle's thrown against the wall. That Etch-a-Sketch blurriness is such a perfect stroke as you evoke a childhood toy in that moment. The writing all through this is exquisite. The piece has such a haunting quality. The whole idea of a freight train, metaphorically, has such emotional resonance, i.e. a runaway train, that inherent danger, the desire to flatten something, the seductive aspect of danger, etc.

As someone who also writes about brothers, I'd love to know, is this a theme or relationship that you keep coming back to in your writing?

Also, did having the constraint of the word chain serve to free up your writing? I ask because I just taught a workshop on writing constraints (and I wish I'd thought to use this one), and the idea the paradoxical way they tend to free us, silencing the editor as we attempt to work out the puzzle so to speak.

KATHERINE: First of all, thank you so much for recognizing this piece and the many layers at work here. I think I told you this piece actually began in the very first flash class I took with Meg Tuite. I had already finished Gather the Night, my book dedicated to Lou, but as so often happens, Lou wasn't done with me yet. As an aside, I find the way our obsessions "control" us or maneuver us , to be fascinating. Especially the way one theme will bleed over from one book or series into the next. That comment in a way, speaks to your first question, "is this a theme I come back to in my writing"? And the answer is a resounding, YES! Tina* sometimes says, Lou is my muse and that may be true but I also know the impact of my life with my brother, the trauma, the love, the intensity of mental illness, experienced at a very young age and not truly understanding what the heck is happening to a sibling that you love, the impact of that will never go away. And that's just how it is. The book and the continued pieces like this one, help to alleviate the heaviness for a while, but it is a part of me and I know now there is no way around that. I do like to consider the "gifts" this experience has given me, primarily compassion for those who suffer severe mental illness and addiction. I also like to honor Lou and who he was and the bit about the glass bottles was actually very freeing, when we did that in real life.

The word chain definitely influenced the writing in this piece. It led me to choices and images I most likely would not have found in a more open free verse piece. I also want to share that this piece was in the works for a very long time, years, before it came to rest in this current version. The initial impetus was there of course but it was many iterations down the tracks, let's say before i got to the turn or in poetry terms, the volta. The puddle and the Etch-A-Sketch were both gifts of really spending time, slowing down and inhabiting, so to speak, the piece. That was a gift from Lou.

*Katherine’s friend, poet Tina Carlson

“For One Brief and Shining Moment She Held the World in Her Body”

“She was Her Royal Highness Queen Majestic with direct lineage back to Eve, Lilith, Noah’s wife. She was species manifestor.”

KATHY: Well, this poem is stunning. You told me this piece began "more as a story" which is fascinating to me. The language and movement is so beautiful. The emotion so evident. We feel this woman and her joy. It has an ecstatic feel to it while also being so down to earth, demonstrated here: "How could it be that she would be become a universe to this miniature magus superhero, growing deep inside, taking root within. her hermitage, her sanctuary, her imperial city" contrasts with "All this happening. as she ate a bagel, opened an umbrella, stepped into a new pair of boots."

The last few words make for a hard landing and the reader, who's been swept along by her joy, keenly feels the loss and the heartbreak. Then we look back to the title with new understanding. It's that landing that, to me, shifts this piece over to flash. Without it, it's totally a prose poem, in my opinion. My thinking is that prose poetry can have a sense of story, but flash must have it. But I see it as a very poetic flash.

Do you find your poetry and prose poetry generally captures some sense story? And what is the difference for you, process-wise, when you sit down to very intentionally writing a poem vs. a flash?

KATHERINE: I am frequently narrative in my poetry style, so I think that makes flash or "poetic flash" more accessible. I'm trying to think if I truly "sit down intentionally" to write flash vs poetry. Sometimes, maybe. But I think more often the words, the image, the impulse, shows me the form it wants to present in. Is that dodging the question? Maybe? But I do know I often "hear" the piece that wants to be written before anything else. In poetry practice, we are usually encouraged to let the poem and the words lead us to what it wants to say, where it might wander to, where it might end up. Because that's my basic practice, I try to do the same with flash pieces. I'm very drawn to the poems and stories that resist tying it all up with a bow. So I aim for that but don't know if I always achieve it.

I think I've told you this before, but another big difference for me between my flash and poetry, is that somehow the flash part of my brain has license to go a little crazy in a way the poetry side doesn't. Not sure that's really a good thing but it just seems to be how it is. Somehow I feel more restrained in poetry and in flash it's like the windows are open, my head's sticking halfway out, the seatbelt's broken, and we're driving on only two wheels. Funny, huh?

KATHERINE’S PROMPT

This will be an ekphrastic flash response in the word chain form. The title or the first line will be: I have a birdcage in my chest. This is the title of a series of paintings and sculptures by the amazing surrealistic artist Rene Magritte. (These can be found easily on line for further visual inspiration) For example, see “The Therapist” by Magritte HERE.)

Start with: I have a birdcage in my chest. Your next line will begin with "chest". Continue writing in this way, with each new line starting with the last word or phrase from the line before. Let yourself go and see what happens. Remember, you can always skip the word repetition pattern once or twice if the piece starts to sound too controlled. As always, the visual art is simply the jumping off point, don't worry about "describing" the art unless that is needed for your piece.

Additional challenge: create a 10-20 word "word bank" of strange or unusual or favorite words (scalpel, interstitial, railroad track, Fruit Loops) and use them within your piece.

Extra bonus: When your piece seems done to you, try reversing it and rewrite the piece with the last line now becoming the first line. This will change the word chain pattern but try it as an exercise and see what happens. Reversing a poem or small piece of prose is one of my favorite tricks to stir things up and break the linear connections. Have fun!

Love this prompt! I’m going to try it myself. Thanks so much for chatting with me, Katherine, and for your brilliant, insightful answers. Readers, this collection is stunning. You’d do well to add it to your personal library! Order directly from University of New Mexico Press.