LIFE OF A POET - ROB JACKSON III

Today, my friends, we are zipping across the skies to the southeastern USA, to visit Robert Jackson III, who writes at Humid Tea and Dry Pines Poetry, a name that intrigues me. There is bound to be some beautiful scenery, given the location, and I am stoked to get to know Rob better. Hop aboard! We're off!  

Sherry: Rob, I am taken with the name of your blog. Tell us a bit about it, and its connection with the place on the planet you call home, won’t you?

Florida, where I grew up

Rob: Well, I grew up Florida and have always lived in the Southeast U.S. Here sweet tea and longleaf pines are the norm. I was going to juxtapose the adjectives and say Dry Tea and Humid Pines, but fell to the logical arrangement.

Sherry: I love it! Would you give us a snapshot of the poet at home? You live in a glorious spot!

Rob: I am married, have three kids, a dog, a fish, and whatever wild thing happens to be brought inside at the moment. I currently live in a small college town, Auburn, Alabama, where I work at Auburn University. Previously I lived in the big city, Atlanta, and tropical suburbia, Clearwater, FL. 

At least 40 hours a week are consumed by my job as a professor of engineering. My research area is something called tribology, which is probably a new word for most. I'll let “y’all” look that up on your own. Being a professor involves teaching and research. Writing technical articles for publication is a big part of that, but I was actually first published as a poet.

Test machine in my research laboratory

Sherry: Now that is an interesting looking machine! A professor of engineering sounds like a wonderful profession. Especially cool is a professor who also writes poetry. And I did look it up! 

Tribology: the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion. It includes the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear, according to our friend Wikipedia.  

When did you begin writing poetry? Did you write as a student? Was there someone in your life you feel had a significant impact on your becoming a poet? 

Rob: I’ve been writing for a very long time. Started sometime in High School or maybe even before. Many English teachers (and others) impacted my interest in writing poetry over the years. In high school, several teachers made a positive impact on me. In English, Joanne Roby encouraged me to write and gave me confidence. Mina Wolf also helped to cultivate my appreciation for art and creativity.

Blake Leland, a professor at Georgia Tech, is probably one I should thank the most. He encouraged me to continue and to share my work. At that time I also become involved with the North Avenue Review. It was not a literary journal, but more of an ‘anti’ social commentary. It was a good outlet and I learned a little bit able page layout and publishing (before everything went digital). Prof. Leland was a poet in his own right and I just found this video on YouTube:

Sherry: Oh, he is quite wonderful, Rob! In his first poem, he delivers an eloquent treatise on all that a poem can be.

What is it about poetry that caused you to choose it as your means of creative expression? What makes it sing for you?

Rob: That’s a difficult question. My thoughts just come out in what seems more like poetry. I also view poems as a puzzle at times. Sometimes it requires you to fit several thoughts, words or lines together. I usually have a feeling that they are meant for each other.

Sherry: That sounds about right. Are there three poems you would like to share with us? And tell us a bit about each one?

Rob: I don’t like to say too much about poems, but here are three almost randomly chosen poems and a sentence about each.

First, this is a brand new one. It is about making important choices in life. These are choices that you must devote yourself completely to, and then what happens if they sink.

Float

What mold

will you pour

your soul into?

If it is too large

it will shatter

into thin shards

falling to the ocean floor,

but if it is too dense

it will also rest

next to the ribs

and timbers,

picked clean

by the scavenging crabs.

-Robert L. Jackson III

I don’t think I’ve ever posted this one on the blog either, but it is only a few years old. It is about a love that becomes ancient and immortal. The two lovers are Luna (the moon) and Poseidon. They are forever following cycles of dissipation and rejuvenation.

Luna over Poseidon

While the communications,

emissions from the stars,

sleep,

the dark ocean rages

against its shores

only to withdraw tired,

aged and dry.

Is it enough to know

that the tide will return

and submerge

the gasping barnacles?

The stationary shells

bleach in the sun

to flat white

and then are ground

to sand

as the tide

comes in.

The moon

is eternally 

on the mind of the ocean,

submerging her reflection 

and smoothing the craters

as she caresses the waves

so they no longer break

on the grinding shells,

perfect in their swirls

and glossed colors.

-Robert L. Jackson III

From Eternal Comet

Finally, this is an older poem about revealing oneself and what is  endured from that act:

Hatching Eggs

Shedding layers of ocean

I’ve revealed my crustaceans.

With time we’ve had

more to remove,

but also more to remember.

Eroding layers of ocean

I’ve revealed the earth.

It will take forever

to reconstruct

all that was lost in the slide.

Flaking layers of ocean

from my dry skin,

the bones fossilize,

conditioning themselves

for the next burden.

Filling layers of ocean,

the creatures scurry;

I follow them

down the soft beach

toward the predator filled ocean.

-Robert L. Jackson III

From Shedding Layers of Ocean (2000)

Sherry: What wonderful shares, Rob. Thank you. I note you have two books out. I've put the links to them here. They look wonderful! Great titles, too.

Available at Amazon

Available at Amazon

You have been blogging since 2009. How has blogging impacted your work?

Rob: Not too much. I don’t usually write to fill the blog, but write because I want to. However, Poets United has inspired me many times now, and I tend to be posting more. Some things I don’t ever post.

Sherry: What other activities do you enjoy when you aren’t writing?

Rob: For some reason a good portion of my spare time activities revolve around water. I swim, but mostly for health, and it makes me feel better. I was a competitive swimmer in high school and college. I also enjoy sailing. Being able to harness the wind is a feeling that gives me confidence. It is also very relaxing.

Sherry: Living by the ocean for so much of your life, I can see why you love water activities. Is there anything you’d like to say to Poets United?

Rob: Thanks for giving us the opportunity to participate in such a splendid and active community. I have really enjoyed it and hope to continue. Due to everything else I’ve described I don’t always have a lot of spare time, so I can’t participate as much as I would like to. However, hopefully in the future I can participate more.

Sherry: We are always happy to see you when you stop by, Rob. Thanks so much for this look-see at your life. It is so nice to get to know you better.

Wasn't this an enjoyable visit,  my friends? Great poems and some beautiful scenery. Do come back and see who we talk to next. Who knows? It might be you!