I must say that usually my poetry centers on isolated moments imbued with a deep meaning. One could see my work as an attempt to tease out that meaning. Those feelings can be so abstract, so I feel very accomplished when I can use words to form a more concrete grip on what I felt in a given moment.
I usually start the writing process after thinking about a subject/moment a lot. The style, techniques, and forms I choose for a piece usually unfold as I write. I specifically focus on sound and space as I determine the tone that best matches the sentiment I want to express.
For me, no two moments are the same. Even the exact same actions or routines we have will be marked with a particular feeling that I love to capture in poetry. My piece "The Stoplight that Blocked my View of Heaven" is based on a particular traffic light I regularly stopped before heading home from work. I was overcome with a almost palpable solitude that was quickly interrupted by the light changing.
My work was born of a need to resolve the loneliness I felt while giving voice to the despair and other emotions that inspired me. That quality for each moment we live in our lives to be different from the next really is magic to me.
Jamario Cantrell is a poet, traveler, and content creator. His work is concerned with the intersections of the human condition with powerful, yet fleeting experiences. He has work featured and forthcoming in FEED, Maw, the Agapanthus Literary Collective, the Jupiter Review, and Bombfire. He currently lives in Port St. Lucie, FL where he's at work on his first collection of poetry. He can be found on Twitter: @CantrellJamario.
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