Three Poems by Michael Dufresne

& an interview with Jen Knox

The head of the snakebird slithers on the water,
joins a gathering of reeds at the shoreline
of the pond. Why must I feel as if
I’m something that I’m not?
As if my loneliness will only grow deeper
as I continue to grow older? My heart
is like the body of the snakebird, submerged,
out of sight. I stare out the window,
wonder if the serpent will reveal its wings
and fly away. It never does.
Even now, as the sky pinkens into dusk, 
the snakebird waits among the reeds.

Photo by Bjorn Agerbeek

My eyes can barely make out several shades of black 
and moonlight gray, so I shut them, give my ears 
a chance to delineate the night. They find it hard
to tell the crescendos of the wind from the cars 
passing by in the distance, and for all they know, 
the spraying of the fountain could be rain. I pause 
for a moment to listen to my upstairs neighbors argue,
then turn my attention to the crickets, who seem
to be bickering as well. I am in disagreement
with myself over what matters and why. A person
can only take so much rejection from this world.
What is my limit? I sit in my balcony chair,
eyes closed, ears unfocused, pondering this question.
When I start to feel cold, I know that I’ll sleep well
tonight, and also that the sun will rise before I do.

Photo by Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash

Unable to write, I look from the book to the pen
to the sliver of sun on the back of my hand.
Threads of shadow move through the light
the way light moves through water. As a child,
I would empty my lungs and sink to the bottom
of the pool, so I could look up and watch
the alternating patterns on the surface. I imagine
ghosts might look similar to someone who sees them,
whether or not they are there. I struggle to believe
in myself, in the value of my words. They sound
nothing like poetry to me. Would I be better served 
dropping this pen, closing this book, moving on
to some other addiction? But without these words 
to express my sorrow, how could I ever escape it? 
Even if it only lasts a moment, in that moment 
I am a kid again, so happy to be floating,
enraptured by the miracle of dancing light.
This is why I write, and this is why I hold 
my pen, book open, staring at my hand, waiting
for the words to come and carry me away.

Michael Dufresne is a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and an occasional poet. His poems have appeared in Letter Review, Rabbit and TPT Magazine. He currently lives in Florida with his spouse.

We took some time to interview Michael about his process and outlook.

Jen Knox (JK): Hi, Michael! We are honored to feature your poems in Unleash Lit. Can you speak to why they are purposely not titled?

Michael Dufresne (MD): I was inspired to write these poems while studying the Qing dynasty poet/theorist Wang Guowei 王國維 and his theory of poetic “worlds” (jìngjiè境界). After coming to my own understanding of this theory, I thought I would try putting it into practice. One feature of this theory is that “worlds” keep descriptions of scenery and feeling as distinct as possible, emphasizing the suggestiveness of their juxtaposition. Another feature is that poems should be untitled (wútí 無題), because no titles can live up to the limitless potential of their “worlds.” In fact, according to Wang, “when poems have titles, poetry dies” (詩有題而詩亡). Whether or not this is the case, I wanted to see how leaving my poems untitled would impact their “worlds.”

JK: What is the best piece of advice you've received as a writer/person?

MD: I once had a creative writing professor who urged the class to respect the effort poets put into their poems and asked us to put as much effort into our own poetry. This suggestion has stuck with me, especially since it is so easy to dismiss works that don’t resonate with us at first. I have a friend who believes reading should be done with hospitality, which is something I also agree with.      

JK: Please share with us one (or a few) of your favorite lines from a work that has inspired you, and explain what strikes you about the passage.

MD: “I have for the wrecking of the gods reinvented words” (j’ai pour l’échouage des dieux réinventé les mots). This line from Aimé Césaire’s “Trajectory” has been drifting in and out of my mind recently. Also, I allude to two lines from a poem by Wang Guowei called “Flying About” (Pànfēi 拚飛) in the last of my three poems: 

If I had no poetic lines in which to express my sorrow, 

How could I ever hope to find a moment’s relief from it? 

不有言愁詩句在，

閒愁那得暫時消。

JK: Why is creative work important? 

MD: The sense of empowerment that comes with artistic creation is unlike anything else. By way of words or some other medium, artists are able to reshape the world and imbue it with intentionality. This applies to those who appreciate art as much as those who make it: interpretation effects meaning just as much as (if not more than) creation. 

JK: How did you find your first publication?

MD:  I only recently began submitting my poems for publication, and my first acceptance letter came as quite a surprise to me. Not only was it a spur-of-the-moment piece (at least when compared to some of my other poems), but it was also a collaborative work written in “conversation” with ChatGPT. This left me feeling especially suspicious of my own talents as a poet. Soon after, however, a few of my other poems were accepted for publication, which boosted my confidence. 

JK: What are your thoughts on the impact of AI on the world of creative writing/publishing?

MD: I’m less afraid of AI itself than I am of the people/institutions who will use it. Like most of greatest technological innovations, AI has the potential to reduce the monotony of our lives by giving us more time and resources to be expressive, but I have a hunch that it will most likely have the opposite effect. Ironically, the poem I “co-wrote” with ChatGPT addresses this exact concern.

JK: What are you working on now? Please share any links our writers can follow to read more of your work. 

MD: Well, I just finished writing my dissertation, so I’m not working on any big projects at the moment. I’m pretty much always either writing or submitting poems, so some of them may appear in print somewhere at some point in the future. I recently put together a website using Owlstown (shout out), and you can find my published poems at michael-dufresne.owlstown.net/pages/poetry.

Thanks for taking the time, Michael!