Simon Perchik is an attorney whose poems have appeared in Partisan Review, The New Yorker, Pavement Saw and elsewhere. Readers interested in learning more about him are invited to read the interview by David Baratier and the essay Magic, Illusion and Other Realities at www.geocities.com/simonthepoet which site lists a complete bibliography. Buy his books here. See some work here, here, here and here. 1. What is the first poem you ever loved? Why? Baudelaire. I liked the directness and the power. He allowed me to use the vernacular, which wasn’t acceptable till then. 2. What is something/someone non-“literary” you read which may surprise your peers/colleagues? Why do you read it/them? Mad Magazine It was funny and cut through the bullshit of everyday life. Suddenly it seemed OK to be honest and irreverent. 3. How important is philosophy to your writing? Why? Not important at all. I try to write poems not essays. Worse yet, my poems make their living in the subconscious and (Freud notwithstanding) have nothing to “say”. They have just enough reality in them to give the appearance they can be explicated (like dreams) but what I try to do is inform the reader of what cannot be articulated. Something like music. 4. Who are some of your favorite non-Anglo-American writers? Why? Glad you asked. Neruda, Alexandrie, Celan and Roberto Helder. 5. Do you read a lot of poetry? If so, how important is it to your writing? Yes. And it’s very important. I get to know the territory, see what others are up to. But mostly I steal from the musicians. My opening lines are stolen shamelessly from Beethoven, and then I settle down to Mahler. 6. What is something which your peers/colleagues may assume you’ve read but haven’t? Why haven’t you? I don’t know that many poets and the few I know already are aware I read very little. I do read biographies when I want to take a break from writing. I get my ideas not from other writers but from confronting a photograph with an idea from science or biology or myth and try to reconcile the disparate, conflicting ideas. I go into this in quite detail in the essay Magic, Illusion and Other Realities at www.geocities.com/simonthepoet. 7. How would you explain what a poem is to my seven year old? First I’d make him/her aware that a poem is not an essay or a lecture and so it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t “tell” the reader anything. It’s “the use of words that can heal”. Having said that I really believe your seven year old, any seven year old, is more interested in other forms of magic. When life becomes intolerable he/she will find that poetry has the power to heal, to give solace. I honestly believe poetry is not a tool for every day use by everyone. It’s just for those who need it. When they need it. 8. Do you believe in a Role for the Poet? If so, how does it differ from the Role of the Citizen? Great question. Yes, the poet has a duty. He/She has the duty to use his/her skill, talent, gift to give solace to others. That’s why at a funeral we listen to Donne. Not Dostoyevsky. 9. Word associations (the first word which comes to mind; be honest): Lemon**Juice Chiseled**Honed I**Me Of**From Form**Shape 10. What is the relationship between the text and the body in your writing? Not aware of any.