This story began, not surprisingly, as a poem; the central images were the falling pixie dust, the Wax-Face Men, and the idea that mountains would write poems of crystal. The crystals, for their part were inspired by my favorite poet, Sarah Lindsay:
"There were still people ...
to look into the fire and sing until their eyes hurt /
and still sing..."
-- Sarah Lindsay, "So Were the Animals"
Primate Behavior, Copper Canyon Press
I've always been fascinated by the extremes to which people will go to to express their given passion, whatever that passion might be, and I wanted to apply that concept to the natural world as well.
I tinkered with those images for a number of years before realizing they worked better as a story, and the Wax-Face Men went from being a one-off reference to the MiB into the antagonists of the story.
Poetry has been my first love ever since my sister loaned me her copy of Where The Sidewalk Ends, when I was about six or so. My life has taken many a strange and convoluted turn since then, from selling lightbulbs to running an Egyptian museum, but that's my origin story: I read Shel Silverstein and knew I was going to be a poet.
But I also saw Star Wars when I was five, and that exploded in my soul like a thousand double suns, and so I knew I also wanted to write science fiction, although honestly, only because I couldn't be a Jedi.
As a result, many of my stories have poetry as a theme or structural element, although that sounds much more planned than what my usual method writing method is, which involves having to drag each sentence kicking and screaming from my subconscious onto the paper. Anyway, I'm glad I got this opportunity to share some of my favorite poets with you, especially because I get so few opportunities to talk about them. I try, but when people see me at the store, they turn and run before I can grab them by the shoulders and demand they read all the books on my recommended list right now this very instant which is hard because you can't usually find Nona the Ninth in the organic zucchini bin.
As far as my writing advice, it's this: if you ever need a little chaos in your story, throw in an orange cat. I'm glad you got to meet Silver and Tabby, too, and the thing about Silver falling in the toilet is true. After all, they say to write what you know...
Poems quoted in this story, which you really should read right now this very instant:
"Go on rummaging / brushing off dust" is from "Mount Clutter" by Sarah Lindsay, from her chapbook of the same name.
"Once I decided / to trade my body for a breath.." is from "After the Cliff: Psyche Begins Her Story" by Rose Solari, Orpheus in the Park
Interesting! Thanks, Don! Be sure to check out "Poetry Planet" and the rest of the August 2026 stories!
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