Please tell us about the making of “Langit ang buhay.”
Outside my writing attic is a small balcony, with wood palings ranged all around, and I noticed a hole from which a nail had fallen out. So in I go, into the hole, towards the poem.
This poem forms part of a series that responds to Filipino idiomatic expressions. There are many of these. It will probably take me forever.
What time of day do you tend to write and why?
The best time of day for me to write is around 3:00 p.m. I think it’s because my brain has become sufficiently limber, loose, and is beginning to let go.
How do you approach revision?
I approach revision with glee, curiosity, a sense of play, and a strong awareness of needing to work really hard, while enjoying being inside that process.
What other art forms most influence your writing?
It’s probably a mirage but I feel like artists just know things… so the visual arts influence me very much, both as a source of creativity and as a guidance on how to view one’s work.
Meanwhile, writers just make it up every time.
Which three words do you overuse in poems?
Recently? Etiquette. Evaporate. Dust.
Outside my writing attic is a small balcony, with wood palings ranged all around, and I noticed a hole from which a nail had fallen out. So in I go, into the hole, towards the poem.
This poem forms part of a series that responds to Filipino idiomatic expressions. There are many of these. It will probably take me forever.
What time of day do you tend to write and why?
The best time of day for me to write is around 3:00 p.m. I think it’s because my brain has become sufficiently limber, loose, and is beginning to let go.
How do you approach revision?
I approach revision with glee, curiosity, a sense of play, and a strong awareness of needing to work really hard, while enjoying being inside that process.
What other art forms most influence your writing?
It’s probably a mirage but I feel like artists just know things… so the visual arts influence me very much, both as a source of creativity and as a guidance on how to view one’s work.
Meanwhile, writers just make it up every time.
Which three words do you overuse in poems?
Recently? Etiquette. Evaporate. Dust.