Life of a Poet - Sherry Blue Sky

Today, Kids, (using the word Sherry Blue Sky would use), the table is turned.   I told Sherry Blue Sky, who blogs at Stardreaming With Sherry Blue Sky it was about time SHE be interviewed.  I had to twist her cyber arm just a few times (smiles) until she gave her usual cackle and then agreed. So I hope you all will enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed 'talking' with Sherry!

Poets United:  Sherry, I know that a person's childhood often has a lot of influence on who a person becomes as an adult.  Can you think of two experiences you had as a child that, as you now look back, are integral to just who you are as an adult?

How I Roll

Sherry:  I grew up in a family where there was drinking and, often, violence. This impacted me greatly, as a child and, later, in the choices I made as a young adult. But my Grandma was a huge, steadying influence in my life. She believed in me, and she also showed me that a different life than the one I had known was possible.

Because I have always had a very peaceful nature, and have been surrounded most of my life by volatile people dealing with various addictions, the search for peace in my life has always been paramount, which has led to my living alone for long stretches of time - for much of the journey, in fact. It seems to be the only way I can maintain peace and equanimity. Peace turned out to be more important to me than love, when it came to choosing between them. And then I learned to love the whole world, in lieu of having one special person in my life. That works wonderfully. Trees don’t argue! Dogs, neither, and having a dog is essential to my well being. 

My sister's farm, where I've spent

the last couple of years

Beau

Poets United:  Oh, that seems so much like you, Sherry.  You seem to have the ability to turn negative into positive in a way that works for you.  An admirable quality indeed.  Let's continue a little bit, traveling back into your history.  When you were in school, what were your interests?  What were your dreams for yourself back in those days when you were in school?  Did you have any life goals for yourself way back then?

Sherry:  Ha! I wanted so badly to be a singer. I sang all the time, at home and in the school hallways, and likely drove everyone to distraction. However, I was too shy and self-conscious to actually get up on a stage and sing, so it was hard for me to get discovered.  Music has always been a passion of mine. My dad was a very talented musician. But I never  learned to play an instrument, as a child, as we were too impoverished. This has been a big loss in my life, as the music is in me, and has no way to get out other than through singing. And now I sound like a frog. 

When I grew up, I was too busy raising kids, and as a single mom was still impoverished.  And now?  I am too old to start back at Twinkle Twinkle on a violin. I want to play  like Zukerman. I missed the boat. My daughter gave me conga drums one Christmas, though, and sometimes I grab one of them and bang away on it! My teeth are also now loose enough that I can use them as castanets! One woman band.

I also wanted to be the youngest published author in Canada. Didnt happen. If I hang in long enough, maybe I can try for being the oldest. Cackle.

Poets United:  Ha, even though you never played an instrument or became the youngest published author in Canada , it seems it did not stop you from enjoying music or writing.  I am sure there are a lot of wished-they'd-been musicians among us tapping our feet to the music and singing in our cars. And a lot of us would-be-authors right here in the blogosphere.  Smiles.    But this lack also did not stop you from developing your trademark sense of humor, which all of us enjoy.  Cackle back.

Tell us about your family, Sherry.  I also know that animals are an integral part of family, so please do not leave them out.

The kids and I up Knox Mountain
Back in the Day

We're all a tad older now: Jeff, Jon,
me, Stephanie and Lisa

Our beautiful Zenny

Gord and Steph

Sherry:  I have four grown kids, and another wonderful daughter, Zenny,  who is married to my oldest son. And a wonderful soon-to-be-son-in-law, Gord, Stephanie's fiance. Plus four amazing and extremely interesting grandkids, and a seven year old great-grandchild. This makes for a full life (and a LOT of Christmas presents!) 

My grandkids, Ali, Caleb, Josh and Tyler, great-grandson Damian (Ali's son),

and Tyler's girlfriend Jacqueline - an amazing group of open-minded,

free-thinking, unconventional young people. (We taught them well!)

Oh, and we must not forget the three grand-dogs, who love it when I babysit them!

Lisa's cute little Penny

Stephanie's  baby, Chloe, and, below, Sanchez

I was a hands-on Grandma, and helped raise the grandkids. (My daughter raised her four as a single mother, too, not an easy job.) We are a very cackly bunch, especially we women. Big senses of humor, which has helped us get through the tough times. Poets United did a prompt recently: Left of Center. That's our family.....waaaaaaaaaaaay left of center! 

My beloved Pup

Animals are essential to my life. I had a big black wolf-dog who shared my journey for fourteen years, whom I am still mourning two and a half years after his death. 

Ms. Jasmine

Jasmine, my golden retriever, is eight years old. And my sister, who lives next door, has a horse and three dogs,  that I am very close to, as I am their caregiver when she’s often away adventuring. I am longing for a little black puppy, but I may have to wait a while more for him!

This is life at Dogs R Us! Possession of the Kong

is their obsession. Blakey, on Lukey's rear,

appears to be gender-confused. Or maybe not!

Poets United:  Your life seems very rich with people and animals, Sherry.  I do know you are still mourning Pup, as anyone who reads your poetry does.  You have written some beautiful poetry about him.  I DO hope you are able to sometime in the future get the little black puppy of your dreams.

I know you live in British Columbia, one of the most beautiful provinces of Canada (one for which I also have a strong affinity).    Have your surroundings  influenced your poetry in any way?

Sherry:  My love for the natural world is one of the strongest passions of my life. Truly, nature has been my lover this lifetime. In my 40’s I lived inland,  longing for the ocean. It was my dream to live in Tofino, on the wild West Coast of Vancouver Island, some of the most spectacular landscape on the planet.  

My beloved Wickanninish Beach

Finally, I knew it was now or never, make the leap or give up the dream. And I knew I couldnt live without a dream. So I gathered all of my trust and courage under me and made a mighty leap. When I landed in Tofino, that seeking, questing, clamoring voice inside me stilled. I knew I was home. I lived the ten most glorious years of my life there. I have put together a small book of my Love Song to Clayoquot Sound, and have put a copy of it on my site, here, so folks can see the photos of its stunning beauty.

Poets United:  Wow, Sherry.  I can hardly wait to see it.  From the periodic photos you have shared on your site, I do know this will be a real treasure!

Sherry:  My poems are full of the ocean, the forest, Mother Earth, and my angst over how we have treated her. These days, I live an hour and a half inland (argh),  so once again, missing the ocean’s roar is in my poems. I dream of returning, and we shall see whether the universe will give me a second shot at living my dream. My name is on the waiting list for a small seniors’ complex in Tofino. Stay tuned! If I move back there, my poems will take a joyous leap into the stratosphere! I will bound around the village like a grinning gazelle. I will be ecstatic, once again, as I was for ten years there.

Poets United:  I do hope this dream comes true for you, Sherry, and that you will return to the ocean again.

When did you write your first poem?   And when did you begin to consider yourself a poet?

Sherry:  It was the strangest thing. When I had just turned fourteen, I wrote my first poem. I remember sitting at my desk in school,  the words coming to me, and me writing them down. Suddenly there was a poem on the page. Who knew? I had had little exposure to poetry, though I have always been a voracious reader. But this poem just came through me, and after I wrote it, the floodgates opened.  I sat at my desk in school scribbling furiously from then on. My teachers recognized that I had a drive to write, and they let me scribble when inspiration struck. One teacher, especially, encouraged me. This was my first poem:

Each acquaintance on the road to Never

whispers through the soul

and leaves a soft thought to remember

when Tomorrow dawns cold.

It seems each person that I meet

on this long journey to the end of things

is someone I can love

and I must tell him of my love.

For if my heart stopped beating

e’er one more sky was streaked with dawn

how would my many loves live on

uncertain of this extra dream of life

only my heart, in love, can dwell upon?

Poets United:  Wonderful first poem, Sherry.  Impressive.  I can see you were born to be a poet.  Tell us more about your early writing.

Sherry:  When I read the poems I wrote back then, I marvel at the words I used, and how my subconscious knew things my conscious mind did not yet know or understand. It is like someone else wrote them, the inner I, (the inner Eye?) Some of the language of those early poems seems beyond the grasp of a fourteen year old. The words came through me. I just copied them down. 

Though I knew I was a writer, that I was meant to be writing, and felt guilty in years when I was too overloaded to do so regularly, I didn’t think I was a poet till much later in life.  I used to think of myself primarily as a writer of prose.  But since finding the blogging community, I realize poetry is my first love. When I first found Poets United, I was thrilled to be able to read other writers’ work. It astounded me when poets would come and read mine. It still does. 

To have feedback and encouragement has been a wonderful gift in my life, and I am writing today – because of all of you – far more than I ever wrote before I discovered the world of blogging. A gift beyond price, for which I thank each and every one of you.

Poets United:  I agree with you there, Sherry.  Feedback and encouragement are both wonderful gifts, so important to those who write. It definitely encourages people to write more & just plain feels good.

What do you consider the main subjects of the poetry you choose to write today?  Do your poems seem to have a basic theme?

Sherry:  Without meaning to, as the poems just flow up out of my heart, the themes seem to be my love of nature, the environment and my angst over what we are doing to our world, abhorrence of cruelty to animals, and a strong desire for social justice. I have great empathy and compassion for the disenfranchised of the world, who cling to life by a thread. And hope. I try to maintain an attitude of gratitude and hope, because how we see the world creates the world we see, and I never want to sink into despair. There is always hope that the transformation of consciousness we need so badly on this planet will happen in time. It must. 

One of my favorite trees,

the Hanging Garden Tree on Meares Island

I believe if enough of us put out positive energy, send healing thoughts across the earth, join with the millions across the globe doing the same, that we can help turn the tide towards a new and more equitable paradigm, for the planet and for humanity. 

Poets United:  Well expressed, Sherry.

Describe your process for writing poetry.

Sherry:  Ha! That makes me smile, as I don’t have one. When I was younger, I would say my poems were inspired, they welled up from a place deep within. I worked at them, revising and struggling a bit to get them right. There is a big difference now that I am older. I live with chronic pain, especially chronic head pain, and fatigue, and so my poems now are more pedestrian. If there is a prompt, or an idea, I just start tapping the keys. Something appears on the page, almost by itself. I miss the old days of inspired writing. But I count myself fortunate to be writing anything these days. 

Soul card courtesy ofDeborah Koff-Chapin of http://www.touchdrawing.com/

The one exception to this was one month in 2011, April,  when Elizabeth Crawford and I made a Soul Card Journey. Every day Elizabeth posted a beautiful image, by the artist Deborah Koff-Chapin, and we each wrote to it.  I would look at it,  start typing, and the words just came. Those poems were inspired, and seemed to come from a deep place in me. It was an amazing month. I have gathered the Traveler series of poems based around this journey, on a page on my site here, and may gather them into a small book soon. Here's a  peek:

The Last Star of the Morning

Traveler walks 
like a moving tree,
like a wind-whisper,singing,
like the breath of dawn.

Traveler

is a

part of

the landscape;

she carries

with her

a corner of

the sky.

Traveler

rises

with the 

morning sun.

She is always 

walking towards

the next sunset.

There is

the last star

of morning

on her shoulder.

She wears

the first star

of evening

in her hair.

The moon 

is her

mistress,

a songbird

flies from branch 

to branch

beside her,

and a

wolf-shadow

companions

her every step.

Poets United:  I do remember when you did that Soul Card Journey, Sherry.  Your poems were wonderful.  I am glad you are thinking of making a small book of them.

How did you become involved with Poets United?  And what keeps you working so hard on behalf of Poets United today?

Sherry:  Oh I love this question. A long-time friend of mine, Lynette Killam, over at Imagination Lane, encouraged me, when she set up her blog, to put my poems into a blog. I did so, and it was a learning curve, as I am a dunce when it comes to technology.  I didn’t expect much  to happen. I had had other blogs that never went anywhere. But Blogger is a really great place to blog, as it gets a lot of traffic.  I decided I wanted to find other poets in the blogosphere, and I went to Blogger Forum and asked “where can I find other poets?” Robb Lloyd, who created Poets United and ran it for its first couple of years, responded “Why don’t you try Poets United?” I did and the rest is herstory!

What keeps me working for Poets United? Gratitude and joy. I will be eternally grateful to Robb for my involvement at PU, which opened the doors of the world to me. I now have friends all over the world, whom I met here. I love encouraging people, so it gives me a large platform to do that (smiles). And also I adore interviewing poets and hearing their life stories, which always blow me away. 

Poets United:   And you are so good at sharing people's life stories here in all the interviews you do and have done over the years.  And we thank you for this.  And yes, we are all grateful for Robb's early vision, I think.

What are your thoughts on the poetry blogosphere in general?

Sherry:  It is absolutely wonderful! The poetry blogosphere provided the support for my writing that I so badly needed, and motivation to keep writing. For lack of support, my writing had slowed to a trickle before I found it. I have written more consistently since I started blogging, and have produced more writing in three years than in my entire life before.  

Poets are very nice people, plus there is just so much talent out there. Every day I read things that blow me away. Not only does the blogosphere inspire me, it motivates me to keep at it. I think it is a wonderful platform, especially for those of us who don’t have aspirations of being published or being well known. For me, it is more than gratifying  that some people come to read my words and comment and even, sometimes, come back another day. Wow. It’s the stuff of dreams!

Poets United:  Do you have any well known poets that have influenced your writing subjects or style?

Sherry:  I adore Mary Oliver’s work, which I only discovered about ten years ago. I don’t know that she influences my work, as I could never aspire to her level of craft. But she writes about nature, and so do I, and it gave my heart such a lift to find her and know, through her poems, that someone else feels as I do about this beautiful planet of ours. Someone else who “stares at the world”. 

Poets United:  Yes, I can certainly see why Mary Oliver's poetry would resonate with you, Sherry.

Do you have any heroes....living or dead? 

Sherry:   Hmmmm..........yes, many. I could talk about the Big Ones: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama. Also, my Sis, Jeane Manning, best friend for thirty years, who has devoted her life, at considerable financial sacrifice, to the cause of clean energy.

But I have two people in my life, my son, Jeff, and my daughter, Lisa, who have made the most amazing journeys, while challenged with mental illness. They have done so with grace, courage, humor, strength, honesty and truth, and I could not be prouder of them.

All my life, I have been drawn to stories of people who transcend difficult circumstances with grace. Those stories helped me weather my own hard times. But Lisa and Jeff have shown me how it’s done, better than anyone. 

Poets United:  Nice that you recognize the heroes in your own life, Sherry.  I think we all have them if we will only look.  Smiles.

Do you have any causes that are near and dear to you, causes that you believe in and work for in your own way? 

Sherry:  Big ones: healing the environment and learning to live on earth sustainably, so that the planet (and all species) can survive; preventing cruelty to animals, including  the horrors of factory farming; human rights for everyone, especially the oppressed, impoverished, displaced and disenfranchised. If we get those right, what a world it will be. But we need  to wake up soon. Like yesterday. Some of us have been talking about this for thirty years and STILL not enough change has occurred. Corporate greed still talks with the loudest voice. Sigh. I have gnashed my teeth into stumps over this.

Poets United:  What do you do when you are not writing poetry or working on something for Poets United?

Sherry:  Not much, hee hee. I sit at my desk by the hour!  But I so love it. I read, though. I have read voraciously and daily since I was five years old.  I watch movies, as a way of relaxing. I most love books and films about people overcoming adversity. I prefer real life stories to anything made up, as truth is always more interesting (and often less believable) than fiction. 

I look after little kids sometimes, which is a happy thing. And I get out into nature and just bask in earth and sky and trees – all this free scenery we are so lavishly endowed with.

Poets United:  On a very serious note, what would you like to be remembered for?

Sherry: Kindness.  A giving spirit. A sense of wonder at the beauty of the natural world. My gift to every child I’ve come into contact with is instilling a love of the outdoors  in them. It’s a gift that stays with them all their lives. 

Poets United:  I am sure these children appreciate the gift, Sherry, and that it will influence them throughout their lives, long after you are gone.

One last question for you (even though I know I could come up with many more):  You are often very open and honest about the 'aging' process.  How do you feel about being the age you are, and how does that influence your perspective in the poems you write?

Sherry:  I find aging utterly hilarious. I make it work for me, as a source of endless slapstick humor, in life and in my writing.  But I don’t really feel old (do we ever?) My spirit is still young and alive, I still feel wonder, gratitude, joy, all the good stuff. I am happy to be through all the years of angst and struggle, and to have gained the perspective and wisdom and peace of being older. I hope to get a lot older yet. I just hope I get to keep my marbles so I can enjoy it.

Poets United:   I love your attitude, Sherry.  I think you have discovered the secret of aging gracefully.  It is definitely a gift!  

And, as Sherry Blue Sky would say in conclusion, don't we meet some of the most fascinating people at Poets United?   Thanks, Sherry, for introducing us to so many of them.