Raven Interviews Michelle Matthees, author of Complicated Warding

Michelle Matthews: Complicated warding is a type of lock, one with several moving internal pieces. When I first read those words, I suspected that it would be the title of the collection. I wanted the book to ask certain questions. How do we take care of the most vulnerable among us? What are the things we have tried, and how have they worked? How do we hurt those we are trying to help? What else can we try? People’s intentions may be good, but the warding, the power contained in that process is incredibly complicated. Additionally, warding has multiple meanings. Its definitions include keeping watch over something and turning something away. There are inherent tensions contained in that word.

interviewPhoebe BoscheJuly 15, 2023Raven Chroniclesinterviews, artbooks, michelle matthees, poetry, institutionsComment

Raven Interviews Stephen Thomas, poet, teacher, mentor.

Stephen Thomas: The book is arranged in five sections, each comprised of poems that explore different concerns: the naturalworld, becoming American, grief at loss, alcoholism and recovery, the spiritual life. (About becoming more American: the longer I live in Europe the more American my poems become.) These things have concerned me all through my life. When my sister was killed along with her husband by a drunk driver in 1997, I did what a poet does: try to find the words and rhythms that fit the awakened feelings. It was in this context that theambiguous phrase what is between us came to me. It can, of course, refer to what separates us and what joins us. It could be a question or an incomplete statement. It points to the tension on earth right now as the fabric of life is threatened by our inability to face what it means to be mortal and everlasting.

Phoebe BoscheMay 30, 2023Raven Chroniclesstephen thomas, poetry, interviewsComment

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