MFB III, From United States, 139 Fans, 1509 Hubs, Joined 8 months ago
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Jen's Solitude interviews MFB III
A prolific Hubber explains the passion for writing behind the poetry and prose
MFB, I have been looking forward to this interview, thanks so much for agreeing to it. I guess I would start off with a question about your 1,500 + hubs. How many hubs are original to HubPages?
I have over 4,000 poems scattered here there and everywhere, some on paper, some on tape, some in books and newspaper articles, others on web pages and poetry sites I have abandoned. It would be hard to say how many are original to HubPages, but the amount should be substantial, many of my poems recently have been inspired by other HubPages poets, and also comments I leave to other poets on HubPages. In the long run most of what I have posted on HubPages is not readily available to read anywhere else so it truly is original to HubPages as you asked.
How long does it take you to write your average poem?
When I am inspired it only takes a few minutes, the words often come to me from somewhere else, they just appear many times on the page with little forethought, I often think that I have a ghost writer, long dead sending me brilliance, but most likely it is God's gifts gracing my humbled brain. If I have to do research a poem can take up too two hours or more...but those are the ones I love to piece together. A lot of times if I am drawing blanks, I just open a newspaper, or a dictionary, and put my finger on a story or a word, and then write about it. My record is twenty poems in one day.
Is there anything you would like to share about yourself that is not included in your profile?
Only that I live for readers, they are what make it all so much easier to sit and pound out pain or joy , love or angst and then discover others who feel the same.
A poet without readers is like a painting without a sealer, there is nothing there to protect and enhance what is finished. We write to be heard and to be read, although there is much pleasure in formulating thoughts, they are simply drawer liners, and empty Internet space with less hits then all the flip sides of records ever produced, gathering dust in bright colored jackets .We must read and be read, we learn so much from critiques from others, and we learn even more from critiquing others folks hubs. I do not write on HubPages for the money it can generate, I deal in feelings, if I can stir another soul to change, peace, or just a smile or a tear, that is priceless. Every thought I have ever had that I felt to be worthwhile is recorded. I have read at poetry readings and watched grown men cry over war poems, as they finally face a bullet-tin they can't dodge: the reality, necessity and ugliness of war. I have convinced cutters to stop, and some who were suicidal to live on, simply with words bent into hope. I have watched girls who held little interest in me be moved to love me by the simplicity of expressions written only to them. There is power in words, I have seen it move masses, change votes and stir angst amidst the apathetic. Therein lies the value of HubPages, we can do so much for others with our god granted talents.
It is always interesting to read how hubbers came to HubPages; would you tell me how you discovered this site?
Quite by accident, just an ad I stumbled on somewhere in my surfing the net. But I have been pleasantly surprised by my followers, and the welcome I was given.
What subjects do you find are the most difficult to write about?
Child abuse, spouse abuse, poverty, men's total lack of concern over the state of our union simply because their party disagrees with another party. The future of the many maimed veterans tortures me, all that they will have to face in a society that judges most by their looks. Injustice infuriates me, I often rant far too much instead of appealing to the better nature of my fellow man. Unnecessary abortions even though I do believe a woman has the right to choice, with over 40 million babies aborted last year, one has too figure that many of those were not due to health issues, rape or accidental pregnancy, a lot were simply a matter of convenience. Life is so precious and yet we squander what might be the next leader to change our screwed up world or the next healer to cure cancer, by simply aborting these gifts from God wrapped in the flesh of newborns. The death of someone or something personal to me is the hardest of all, but it must be poured out and remembered in words, it is the ultimate healing.
You have proven to be a real source of comfort to me in dealing with the death of my mother; it appears your vast experiences have lead to many unfortunate opportunities to survive great losses. Is that an accurate assumption?
Yes, I have seen far to much of death lately and throughout my life. I have watched men die, and women too, I have had to sign papers to cut off life support for my own mother, I have had friends who killed themselves, others who might as well have with their crippling habits. I myself have had several near death experiences. But we must realize that death is a doorway, not a dead end, there is so much more to be discovered on the other side, when our time is due, but not sooner. I can't imagine a life without death hanging over one's head. It humbles us, and makes sure that we get so much more done, because we only have a certain amount of time to work with .
How would you describe your writing style?
I write in explosions of thought, less concerned with the form and style of the work then I am with the impact it creates in others souls. I like to set traps to capture a readers imagination, and then set them free. I enjoy stirring the hornets nest in the heart of anyone who disagrees with what I believe to be the truth.
Sometimes if we get to bantering back and forth intelligently over an issue, I can sway them just enough to tolerate them, or move them to see things a little more towards what is just. I like to use short sentences, stacked like a Tower of Babel building meanings amidst the many nationalities whose eyes descend my works. I employ lots of metaphors, and plays on words, A poem should be entertaining and hold hidden or double meanings.
Would you like to list a few of your favorite writers here on HubPages?
All of my followers are quite talented and I so enjoy reading them daily. There are only 138 of them at the present time, and commenting on each can be time consuming, but I do make the effort when they read my work. I like to return the favor, and I have been favored with 138 truly favorite writers on HubPages. I would like to have more writers to explore, and welcome anyone who would like to share comments and poetry, and good advice.
I noticed that the hub A Poet is a Tortured Soul comes up in the “best” category of your hubs. Would you like to make any commentary about that poem?
I just realized recently how much of my work is a burden, trying to reach others with positive words, when I am but one of millions of poets who have tried to reach others with positive words. I feel crippled sometimes by how little all of my written hopes actually accomplish. It would be easy to simply abandon all of the poetic protests that I weep over as I pound the keys, and write happy little sonnets while the world falls into dire strait jackets. But we are a force to be reckoned with, one of the last arts of expression that can get in the face of hate and speak volumes to still it. Each poet should publicly address a grievous issue, and send it to newspapers in their area for others to feel pain over and guilt. I have had tremendous responses to doing just such a thing, almost weekly. But I am simply a speck of ink trying to change the pained expressions on the vast masses of blank faces. Find a cafe to read in, reach the disillusioned one cup of java at a time. There are so many looking for answers, that are not fabrications, but simply what is truth made attractive. How about some poet-tea parties, that aren't so negative to our current leadership. Nothing is going to be removed for at least another two years, so why don't we simply re-inspire what is going nowhere fast. Ah, but I am preaching mostly to the choir. Poets see life in a far more beautiful way, now it's time to share those visions.
Finally, given your extensive writing background what advice would you offer to others who are serious about developing their writing talent?
Forget fame...and simply write as if you are already famous. Be bold and beautiful, take chances, research what you are writing about and then “Wow!” those who have less knowledge. Share you work often, publish it in newspapers, they go into files that are kept forever, once on microfilm, now on memory sticks.
Write because you enjoy it, find value in that, not in what writing can make you financially. If you relax and truly express yourself, you will be much richer for your efforts. Be more of a righter of what is wrong, then a writer of what is right.
Writers are a dime a dozen, you need to be that rare mercury headed dime, that outshines the common expenditures. You need to be valued for what you have worn on your face after all of your years, not un-circulated, but flipping others around you head over tails at your worth.
Thank you for answering my questions, MFB. I have always found your poems to be genuine, honest and of the highest quality. I hope others come to appreciate your talent as a result of this interview.
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