eight questions with hosho mccreesh

hosho mccreesh has been with us since the beginning.  his poetry appeared in issues one, four and seven of nibble.  he also did the amazing cover art for The Bones of Saints Under Glass, for which our editor is eternally grateful.  hosho took the titular poem and absolutely brought it to life.

and now, eight questions with hosho mccreesh:

What is your role in the small press?

I don’t know man–I don’t really think I have a role. I’m just a guy who writes. I buy books that interest me, & I’ll talk up work that I enjoy in the few ether-spots I frequent…but that’s hardly a role. Small press enthusiast, if anything I suppose.

What is one thing people should know about you?

That I recently had a car stolen. So, if they happen to see a 19 year old white Camry with N. Mex plates–shoot me an email, so I can catch the bastards.

What are you working on right now that has you excited?

Well, we’re basically finished putting the finishing touches on Sunlight at Midnight, Darkness at Noon, which was a year & a half of work…so that’s always great to stick the finished product up on the shelf! I have 2 manuscripts at Propaganda Press–& those will probably be the next things down the pipe. I’m tinkering with some longer pieces–but I see, now, how they are years in the making… I’ve got a few paintings I need to do as well–& that’s always exciting.

Name one thing you wish you had.

I wish I was somehow able to see everyone I’d like to see whenever I’d like to see them…a way to just take a weekend & go see family & friends–be it in Denver or Switzerland or Oklahoma or Oregon or Ireland or Tucson or Japan or Virginia…not worry about money or time off from the job…a way to be there almost instantly…that would be terrific.

Name one thing you have that you could do without.

Car thieves.

Who is your favorite small press poet?

You know–for me it’s always who I am reading now. I got hold of a glorious stack of Albert Huffstickler publications…&, man, he’s really something. If I write for another 30 years, I desperately hope my work is as refined & heartfelt as Huff’s. He’s the goods.

Name one small press poetry mag, other than nibble, that everyone should read?

BOTTLE from Bottle of Smoke–it’s a great production top to bottom.

Where do you want to see your own poetry?

I don’t know if it’s good to imagine such things. It seems to be an ‘expectation as planned resentment’ sorta deal. But if I had to pick, I’d say bars. That’d mean you were really reaching folks, I think. Either that or you were somehow selling beer…say maybe writing poems for Guinness or Lagavulin…& taking all my pay in trade!

here are hosho’s poems as they appeared in nibble:

That The Dying Sun Turns The Leaves
A Blazing Yellow, A Furious Red—

That Those Same Dead Leaves Clatter,
Scuttle Across Pavement & Stone—

That We Are, Too Often,
Our Own Worst Enemies—

& That All Our Silly Struggles
Will Amount To Very Little—

all truths,
all sad,

all made for us
to simply
accept.

A Recent Conversation, Before Sleeping,
About the Long & Many Years I Spent
Lonely Yet Uninterested in Sharing
My Life with Anyone…

“You’d have no problem
adjusting to life in prison,” she said,
“All you’d need
is pen & paper.”

& while she meant it
as a compliment, meant that
she sees something
fierce & independent in me,

I hoped, desperately hoped,
that she was wrong;
that there is more
in this hard life
that I need,

as I drifted off to sleep
thinking of all those
wounded & terrible years alone,

& dreaming of
who I might
murder

just in case

Old Cedar Fenceposts,
Jutting Up

Like Gnarled Teeth
Through the
Blank, Desolate Wilds—

no tracks
in the snow.

check back next friday for a new eight and click on our ‘eight’ page to see past interviews!

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~ by nibblepoems on June 26, 2009.