Dave Malone

Visiting artist Dave Malone, 41, is “lovin’ Paducah.” Love him back this weekend at the LowerTown Art & Music Festival, and find out how you can make him your poetry man!

Dave Malone, you are cute, cute, cute, no doubt about it! And you’re visiting us in Paducah! We love us some visitors!
Well, I am lovin’ Paducah. I’ve really been enjoying my time here.

So you’ve been down here at A.I.R. Studio for a few weeks. How did we get so lucky to snag you?
I heard about the Paducah Arts Alliance program from Emily Butler.

Love her!
I love her, too! I met her at the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts in southern Indiana. She mentioned the artist residency program, in which artists can apply to spend a little time here and work on projects. So I applied!

That’s such a cool program. Swiss artist Corinne Spielewoy was here a few months ago. She did a neat art project involving several local artists. What’s your project?
I’m doing a series of poetry videos called Paducah at 30 fps. I started filming during Quilt Week.

Oh, wow! Like a Quilters Gone Wild video?
No, no! I just shot some background footage and I’ve written poems to go with each short video. One of themes I’m working with for the poems and videos is quilting, so I definitely wanted to get here in time for the show.

I know you’ve already posted the first few on davemalone.net. Here, let’s share the links so everyone can watch:
Cicadas Period
Sentence Finishers
May Day
Home Spun
Song of Gods

By the way, I love that you added the iList Paducah logo at the end of Song of Gods! When will you be showing these?
Several of the videos are currently being shown at the Yeiser Art Center as part of my installation as “Artist of the Month.” During the LowerTown Art & Music Festival, my plan is to have a projector set up, so that the videos can be playing as often as people want to see them. The videos are short, so that’s a plus as people will have a lot of art to see here in LowerTown.

Dave Malone! Your writing is just beautiful How did you get interested in poetry?
I was a sickly child, and I spent a lot of winters in bed with pneumonia. I had to write a lot of reports, and I think that’s how the writing bug got me.

I went to a large high school in Kansas City, and I entered a writing contest at my school. I didn’t win, but I’ll never forget getting third place. We had an assembly where the winners were announced. When I was announced, there was some applause. Particularly, from my buddies. That meant a lot. Writing poetry wasn’t exactly a macho thing to do. It was nice to have that kind of support. So I just kept after it.

And you went to school for it?
Yes, I was an English major at Ottawa University, near Kansas City, and during my time there, I won a national student contest. I went on to grad school at Indiana State University, and then I bummed around Albuquerque and tried to avoid having to get a full-time job.

Well, Dave, of course! You’re an artisté! You don’t need no stinkin’ full-time job! But, come to think of it, how do you make money as a poet?
This is a good question. I’ve learned that I’m interested in a sort of quality of life, and you have to believe that the universe will provide for you.

The universe will provide for you?
Yes. And when you believe that, it’s real easy, and you don’t have to worry about it.

So I can just believe that the universe will deliver me a new pair of Jimmy Choos?
Think of it like Jesus and the loaves of bread. Sometimes, I’m not sure where all my money and resources come from, but if you believe in them, they’re just there. It’s like that great Zen phrase, “Leap and the net will appear.”

Hum, I’ll have to try that. I’ll let you know how it goes. So Dave Malone, you’re 41 and single?
Yes.

PERFECT! What kind of woman are you looking for?
I like women who are passionate about their lives and their work. I’m very drawn to creative types.

You’ve totally come to the right place! Do you always write poetry for your girlfriends?
Yes, I tend to do that.

Who are your favorite writers?
Henry Miller, Diane Wakoski, Mary Oliver — she’s a wonderful poet. David Mamet is one of my favorite playwrights and screenwriters. Steve Martin is a lot of fun. And Billy Shake.

Billy Shake?
William Shakespeare.

Oh, right! Him! Do you listen to poetry differently from those of us mere mortals?
You know, the beauty of a metered poem is like the beauty of a waltz or a tango. It can be pretty sexy, and it’s beautiful - poetry is a dance of words.

Give us one of your favorite examples.
Well, poetry is everywhere. You can even look to contemporary music. I love the metric line from Take it Easy, written by Jackson Brown and Glenn Frey. It goes: “Standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona.” It’s perfectly metrical. In music, there’s a lot of metered verse.

Well, you’re the prince of metered verse poetry! You’ve got three books: Under the Sycamore, 23 Sonnets and Poems to Love & the Body, which sounds awfully sexy. What’s that one about?
Poems to Love & the Body is really about a romantic journey. The book closes with poems about how men and women can be together in a loving, sexy way.

Where can folks buy ‘em?
I have them here at A.I.R. Studio. But you can also get them online at my site or through Amazon.

And you have your Blog 99.
Yes, I’ll have to do a post about our iDate interview.

Yes! Totally! Dave, you’re such a free spirit. Isn’t it difficult to maintain a relationship when you’re free spiriting around everywhere?
You’re too funny. I have to admit, I’m put off by the term “relationship.”

Oh no! Why?
Because it’s a noun and not a good descriptor for true experience. I think it’s dangerous when people place a certain emphasis on romantic relationships in ways that they don’t on regular friendships. I’ve learned that about myself, actually. In the past, I’ve been more judgmental about my romantic partners and held them to higher standards than I tend to hold my friends to. I’ve had to ask myself, why am I judging my lovers in ways that I’m not judging my friends?

Do you still struggle with that?
I’m better about it now. I focus more on my interactions with people. Our interactions - that’s the stuff. The moment. The beauty. But I do think that when we try to label it or put a stamp on it, it’s dangerous.

So you’re open to dating, but you don’t call your relationships, uh, relationships.
Right. I don’t like to label things like that.

I see people living in the past and I see people living in the future. But deep down, I think we all know the only moment is in the now. It’s hard to live like that, though. Our culture places us in positions or roles — not only in love, but in our work and our play. And it’s a shame because people miss out on a lot of life. They have regrets and they get pissed.

I don’t see you ever having any regrets. I mean, even if you did, wouldn’t that just be more fodder for poetry?
Are you reading my mail, Mary Thorsby?

NEVER! But speaking of poetry fodder! Dave! You’ve gotta come to our Breaking the Ice singles mixer and speed dating event at Harrah’s, May 30! It could be your two minutes to paradise!
If you’re as persuasive and charming as you were about iDate, Mary, I have a feeling you’ll see me there.

OK, Mr. Poetry Man, write me a three-verse poem in iambic pentameter with a twist!
To do your verse and twisty rhyme,
It takes more than sailor’s puns and fine wine.
But only a child’s heart is needed
To braid creative. But you gotta have four lines.

That was fun! It wasn’t all iambic, but I do like to break the rules!

And I love a rule breaker! Write on, Poetry Man!

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