Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

There are places beyond man’s illumination
when the campfire is embers and ashes,
when phones and flashlights rest in batteries,
when the moon has sunk or not yet risen,
when satellites and planes are delinquent.
In those rare, dark interludes one sees
the omnipresence of uncountable glows
and hears the whisperings of the stars.

Get to know the poet:

1) What is the theme of your poem?
I tend to write to mood or feeling, sometimes to a thought, but rarely to a theme. This poem was prompted by trips to remote locations in Canada. Picture the lights being out in the camp, a fumbling walk in darkness to the river's edge so I could no longer hear the generator, and looking up. The stars were indifferent to my awe, but suffered my presence..

2) What motivated you to write this poem?
See above.

3) How long have you been writing poetry?

About twelve years. I've already ripped apart many of the early efforts, a few remain okay.

4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would
that be?
My father died when he was thirty eight and I was ten. His job required extensive travel and my time with him was much too little. I suspect we'd disagree on much and strain to relate, but could still fill in our uncolored images of each other.

5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a
professional actor?
I like to think that I read my stuff reasonably well, but hearing it performed by a pro is very useful, and the differences in inflections tells me what they got out of the poem.

6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
Published so far: a thriller novel, a horror novella, a fairy tale collection, two fantasy collections, two poetry collections, five poetry chapbooks. Currently shopping around a collection of noir stories.

7) What is your passion in life?
At my age, passion has abated, but the significance rests with children and grandchildren. The self satisfaction rests with the eclectic if not inane things I've done- naval officer (bomb disarming and diving) reporter (Providence Journal) intelligence operative (Germany and Japan), marathons completed (two) MBA (NYU) international sales exec ( seventy two countries visited) one and only wife ( but we're both out of warranty) and, of course, the writing.