It's a good issue with poems from Chris Haven and Elizabeth O'Brien immediately catching my attention, along with a nice interview of Campbell McGrath.
My poem in this issue is called "Poem Yet To Be Written By Bill Campana"
Bill's response was "Great. Now people all over the world can say Who the hell is Bill Campana?"
It was one of the poems I wrote for a Halloween reading, where I basically went trick-or-treating as some of my favorite Phoenix poets. I tried to write poems about subjects, themes and images that they might use and then I tried to deliver them with their voice and mannerisms.
In this video of that series of costume poems, the Bill Campana one that Juked published can be heard around the four minute mark.
When I started reading at local venues, Bill was one of the first people to dig what I was doing and his support opened a lot of doors for me, since he was one of the icons of Arizona poetry readings. Even though my writing and style were different, people who would've normally ignored me were suddenly curious and taking an interest in what I was doing. It certainly added to my credibility.
Over the years, I have witnessed some amazing performances from him. He has been an inspiration and a friend. I was excited to get this poem published in such a cool journal and I hope he feels honored in some way. But knowing him, I am sure that he is equally irritated by the whole thing.
And that's part of why we get along.
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