Question: Tell us a little about yourself. How did you begin writing poetry?

Jason: I’ve always been compelled to write since I was able. In second grade I wrote my complete autobiography, and I wrote a couple poems here and there in elementary school. I started studying and writing poetry when I was 15. I was the bass player in a garage band and assigned to write song lyrics, presumably because no one else wanted the job. Since then I was amazed at how putting words to paper awed those around me, it’s a very ancient human need to communicate in a permanent form. I am also a trained engineer (and now graduate student), a husband, a father of two boys and an avid cyclist.

Question: There’s a rumour floating around that you’re related to Mark Twain. Any truth to that?

Jason: Right, supposedly Samuel Clemens was a distant relative of my maternal grandmother’s family. That family myth colored my childhood, encouraging me to read everything Mark Twain. When I lived in Connecticut, my wife and I went to the Mark Twain house in Hartford. It was there that I learned I could not be a relative, distant or otherwise, of the Clemens’ as neither he nor his brother had any surviving heirs. So, it is not true. But I might be related to Thomas Pynchon...

Question: You often write haiku in French. Take us through the process of writing in another language: do you begin the piece in French or in English? Are your translations exact, or do your poems appear with slight variations depending upon the language in which they are composed?

Jason: That depends; sometimes I compose in French and then translate into English. There is a certain freedom to writing haiku in French because the English-language haiku movement is more rigid than the French, which makes composing in French somewhat easier. I do sometimes write something in English that I feel is better served in French and translate that way. As for the exactness of translation, no I generally don’t believe in literal translation but rather the gist of the translation. This is still a very tricky as with Camus and The Stranger where the translation of mother for maman colored the interpretation of that work for so long. When I was a better Francophone I would have attempted translations longer than haiku but now I just stick with the short stuff.

Question: Your poetry possesses conciseness coupled with wonderful imagery. That’s an appealing combination. Is this style deliberate or something you’ve subconsciously developed?

Jason: Thank you. Truthfully, that is because I study haiku. I started writing and studying haiku (yes, writing before studying...) to discipline my free verse, I wanted to improve the conciseness of my work. Once I begin to study haiku, my imagery tightened, and my free verse tightened correspondingly. Additionally, I have been trained in technical writing as a result of my engineering background, which demands as much information in as few words as possible.

Question: Would you define your poetry as belonging to a specific genre?

Jason: It feels arrogant and confining to define my own work. If I say I am an imagist then I have included myself among those far greater than myself and left no space for myself to explore something else. Rather I try to imbue my work and imagery with a deep psychology and spirituality. Of course, that doesn’t always work.

Question: Carl Sandberg said,Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during the moment. How open-ended is your work, and how personal do you think a poet’s work should be?

Jason: There is nothing but interpretation. While we all have common experiences, we also all react to those experiences according to our own cultures, biases, fears, loves, educations and familial influences. No one will ever read a piece exactly the same as someone else. I wrote an essay for Frogpond the journal of the Haiku Society of America, which on the surface is a treatise on allusion in haiku, but which also expounds on this theme. I believe a piece must be open-ended to be successful, what good is there is saying everything? My work is very personal, but worked such that specific details are indiscernible, because who really cares to know? Poetry should be personal enough to relate to the audience, but universal enough to matter.

Question: We’re going to do another quote here: Percey Bysshe Shelley said that Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted. Do you agree or disagree with that?

Jason: Shelley would’ve loved digital photography. That may be true, if one’s subject is imperfect and thus distorted, but isn’t that what makes life beautiful and interesting, our flaws? Is the natural world in need of being made beautiful? I think not. I really recoil from definitions and Poetry is... because no single sentence, paragraph, or essay can completely define what we humans call poetry.

Question: Besides writing wonderful poetry, you edit Roadrunner Haiku Journal. Why did you begin your own publication, and does it complement, or hinder, your own writing?

Jason: I wanted to share haiku in a simple and intimate format online. A little of both, it obviously takes time to produce, but I get to read many haiku and the more I read the more I learn. Also, it is nice to exchange ideas with other poets.

Question: What do you feel constitutes good poetry? Are there any trends today in the written word that you embrace, or dislike?

Jason: I love language and good poetry is masterful with language, taking the reader on a linguistic journey. I dislike shock poetry designed to evoke realization or epiphany through revulsion. I do not shy away from ugly or distasteful subjects but gratuitous use of profanity or explicit content doesn’t appeal to me.

Question: What is the most satisfying aspect in belonging to the world of poetry?

Jason: Talking to other writers. Of course, that can be the most dissatisfying aspect as well when ego and arrogance taint the conversation.

Question: Please tell us about your future goals.

Jason: I want to finish my Master’s degree, get some decent sleep, and maybe take on fewer projects. I’d love to write a novel, but for now I’d be happy to finish the short story I’ve recently started.

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