Joseph Massey

You know, that's the way I've always lived, whether I was canceled or not canceled or standing at a wine and cheese party after a poetry reading and just wanting to run out the back door. It's always just been about the art for me.

Yeah, I think of it as a form of meditation and prayer. More so meditation, because you're forced to slow down. It's one line, one word at a time. And there's a lot of silence in poetry. There's a lot of space around the poem. And there's a lot of room for thinking and contemplating. And that's the whole goal of my work, whether I'm taking a picture or writing a poem, is to

Yeah, I think of it as a form of meditation and prayer. More so meditation, because you're forced to slow down. It's one line, one word at a time. And there's a lot of silence in poetry. There's a lot of space around the poem. And there's a lot of room for thinking and contemplating. And that's the whole goal of my work, whether I'm taking a picture or writing a poem, is to

Yeah, I think of it as a form of meditation and prayer. More so meditation, because you're forced to slow down. It's one line, one word at a time. And there's a lot of silence in poetry. There's a lot of space around the poem. And there's a lot of room for thinking and contemplating. And that's the whole goal of my work, whether I'm taking a picture or writing a poem, is to

get the viewer, the reader to slow down and to take the world in as it is. in the present moment and maybe to feel less impacted by the toxicity of, you know, social media, even though I, I, I consume it as well, but there needs to be there needs to be some outlet that is away from that. And that is nourishing for the spirit and for the heart and poetry does that. Yeah.

get the viewer, the reader to slow down and to take the world in as it is. in the present moment and maybe to feel less impacted by the toxicity of, you know, social media, even though I, I, I consume it as well, but there needs to be there needs to be some outlet that is away from that. And that is nourishing for the spirit and for the heart and poetry does that. Yeah.

get the viewer, the reader to slow down and to take the world in as it is. in the present moment and maybe to feel less impacted by the toxicity of, you know, social media, even though I, I, I consume it as well, but there needs to be there needs to be some outlet that is away from that. And that is nourishing for the spirit and for the heart and poetry does that. Yeah.

Absolutely. Yeah. I don't feel any of the doom and gloom. Even the tariff stuff didn't freak me out. I didn't understand half of what I read anyway about tariffs. But part of the poem, America is a Poem, is written on a train ride from upstate New York to Chicago and just going through flyover country and seeing one town, one city after another kind of gutted because industry left.

Absolutely. Yeah. I don't feel any of the doom and gloom. Even the tariff stuff didn't freak me out. I didn't understand half of what I read anyway about tariffs. But part of the poem, America is a Poem, is written on a train ride from upstate New York to Chicago and just going through flyover country and seeing one town, one city after another kind of gutted because industry left.

Absolutely. Yeah. I don't feel any of the doom and gloom. Even the tariff stuff didn't freak me out. I didn't understand half of what I read anyway about tariffs. But part of the poem, America is a Poem, is written on a train ride from upstate New York to Chicago and just going through flyover country and seeing one town, one city after another kind of gutted because industry left.

Um, and seeing what, what has been this, this kind of wreck that's been made of, of these small towns that once thrived and you could see how they once thrived, but all the bars and the baseball fields are, you know, boarded up and grown over. And, um, that inspired me. And then when Trump won, it just, the poem just wrote itself. You know, I mean, I think Trump won.

Um, and seeing what, what has been this, this kind of wreck that's been made of, of these small towns that once thrived and you could see how they once thrived, but all the bars and the baseball fields are, you know, boarded up and grown over. And, um, that inspired me. And then when Trump won, it just, the poem just wrote itself. You know, I mean, I think Trump won.

Um, and seeing what, what has been this, this kind of wreck that's been made of, of these small towns that once thrived and you could see how they once thrived, but all the bars and the baseball fields are, you know, boarded up and grown over. And, um, that inspired me. And then when Trump won, it just, the poem just wrote itself. You know, I mean, I think Trump won.

I know Trump won because America refused to roll over and die, uh, under you know woke policies woke agenda um that is out to to destroy the country you know to destroy actually to destroy the idea of like objective truth you can't have a country where there's no objective truth um and that's just at the most basic level

I know Trump won because America refused to roll over and die, uh, under you know woke policies woke agenda um that is out to to destroy the country you know to destroy actually to destroy the idea of like objective truth you can't have a country where there's no objective truth um and that's just at the most basic level

I know Trump won because America refused to roll over and die, uh, under you know woke policies woke agenda um that is out to to destroy the country you know to destroy actually to destroy the idea of like objective truth you can't have a country where there's no objective truth um and that's just at the most basic level

I liked it. I thought about changing it. Yeah.

I liked it. I thought about changing it. Yeah.

I liked it. I thought about changing it. Yeah.

Thank you, Megan.