Poems by Cecelia Night Vision Spinning Wheels Wish Song for the End of May Drawing Lesson Without The Visitors Passage Writer's Guidelines Caffeine Destiny Staff

Featured Poet: Cecelia Hagen Cecelia Hagen was the Fiction Editor for the Northwest Review for many years. Her work has been published in Portlandia, Exquisite Corpse, Prairie Schooner, Poet & Critic, Puerto del Sol, and in the book, From Where We Speak, an anthology of Oregon poets. She currently lives and works in Eugene as an editor for the Oregon University System. You can email Cecelia at hagence@aol.com In a recent conversation, we asked Cecelia some questions about her work and her influences. Her answers follow: CAFFEINE DESTINY: Why do you write? CECELIA HAGEN: I belong to a poetry group that meets every two weeks. Many of my poems are actually "inspired" by the fact that there's a group meeting coming up, and I want to have something to hand in. Maybe that's a habit from years of school--it's like homework. Having the expectation that you will write something is a great help for me. CD: Has your poetry changed over the years? CECELIA: My impulse is to say yes, but when I look at my old poems I'm surprised by the similarities. I'd say my style has changed some, my content has changed less. I guess the biggest single change in subject matter is that my awareness of death has increased in the past few years, and it's come into my poems. I'm starting to see that the world is peopled by all the presences that have lived here, and realize how presumptuous it is for us to think that what we see is all there is. In terms of style, I like to capture speech in my poems--I find a lot of beauty in the casual way people express themselves. There's also a draw to formalize language, to use words that aren't spoken much but that have an irresistible accuracy, as well as a great sound. CD: Do you think poetry has a purpose? CECELIA: I wish I could remember who said "Nobody needs poetry but people die from the lack of it every day." Yes, I think it has a purpose--to keep us aware, to sound a bell that says "you're not alone." I know it doesn't work for everyone--some of my best friends, writers, even, claim they are "poetry impaired"--but for those of us that read and write poetry, there's nothing else like it. CD: Who are some of your influences? CECELIA: Lately I've been reading Belle Waring and Julia Kasdorf and like them both a lot. I've always admired e.e. cummings, and much of W.S. Merwin, C.K. Williams, Anne Sexton, Tess Gallagher. Gerald Stern can almost always hit the nail on the head, and Stanley Kunitz has some amazing poems. Writers like Samuel Beckett and Gertrude Stein who change language to suit their purposes are fun to return to. And then there are the ones you learn about in school and always cherish, like Andrew Marvel and John Donne.