Interview with poet John E. WordSlinger
John E. WordSlinger is a Poet, Musician, Author, Screen Writer, Poetry & Railroad Historian/Promoter. He is currently writing Poetry Train Africa which is the third book series to make up the Poetry Train Trilogy: A colorful combination of storytelling, poets, poetry, and railways. 3 men who travel Africa in the year of 2015 and &c to write a written documentary on Poets and Railway history in Africa.
What is your Internet writing life motto? What made you have one?
Keep it Poetry and Poetry Will Keep You. It's if you want the life style you must live
the life style. In 2008 when I looked for a place to share my poetry I read many
websites. Poets had short biographies, and I did not have any, but I posted
anyway without having one. I was self taught, and as time came by I reflected on
things I learned so I came up with one, and it's about changing and growing,
furthermore listening and observing life, the arts of literature and the histories of
it all.
It's nearly a decade now since I started out with my online literary life, and I
would not change it other than perspectives I have found and believe in and they
are written out in character voices based in the Poetry Train novels, and poems
here and there. I have learned to voice my feelings, opinions and thoughts in
People I created for important reasons- they are always there in the books I write
than in a thread of post on a social media site that gets sunk as time goes by. And
also in this way they don't get over looked by the waves of life and time. My life is
placed in these books, because they are my life. There's no sense in wasting time,
and beating yourself up, or anyone else to a social media brick wall, so it's all book
shots instead of screen shots.
Which is your soon to be released screenplay? Which is your favourite?
Loulias' Bunker, and it was inspired by the Poets from Russia in the era of the
Silver age. Their work and lives are captivating and inspiring, because they stuck
together as a great lesson for all poets to learn, and the stuck to their poetic
beliefs, what I call poetic guns under Stalin. Our times are no different on the
matter of freedom of expression in the arts, and happenings in the U.S.A. The
history of English itself is in this work. It's an intellectual reality based horror story
based on actual events in my life, the influential poems by Russian poets and my
own. The threat and precautions of nuclear war. Deep perspectives and lessons I
have noticed and seen through history too. I have no screenplay favorite, they are
all my screenplay children. They are all important to me and the world. The
Paxsters, Time Kin, Four Horses and No Men, Star Kill, and Loulias' Bunker are all
intellectual reality based horror stories, based on actual events in my life and the
world around me, except for the Poetry Train novels, they are historical fiction
and non fiction, and they are not screenplays but can be. There are two though
that I know would level the game, if one calls achievements in the literary arts
that will stand the test of time life and be finances, although I do not look at
anything as a game. I am very old school, and these screenplays are Time Kin and
Four Horses and No Men, but again all of them are important. Time Kin is based
on my teenage years, family and friends and place- my intuition, synchronicity,
and my gift of precognition. The main character is Harold and he is a Mastermind
Ghost & Poltergeist Trainer and Electronic Saboteur. The place of this screenplay
is a place I have not been to in 36 years, and when I went there after it was
written I was fascinated by the chalk graffiti on the walls showing the entrance to
the place, that one door in the screenplay, and in the book trailer two I created.
The place has attachments and can attach to you. Precognition is interesting to
me, and I just let it be, but it does come to me and fascinates me. I use it in my
writings when it shines. In this screenplay, two things came to be before it
happened but in a different way and one different place. The writing on the wall,
and the ethical people that live there now, into which hints of this are in the
beginning of the screenplay, and the terrible shooting events that happened in
July of 2016 in Dallas Texas. I never researched the robot technologies in this
fashion, and the book was written and published before this happened, so I saw
something of this nature and technology of the future before it happened. I do
not think too highly of myself because I keep myself humble as best as I can, but I
know in my heart, that this screenplay is very original and Shakespeare and all of
his academic following would agree. Four Horses and No Men is just brilliant. My
love for horses, life and my concerns about prophecy and the world today is what
inspired me to write this one. It's also a precognition that we all hope does not
happen based around collective precognition all through time. I did deep and
extensive research to write this one, and it's what I call an inverted apocalyptic
adventure, to where I take the misanthropy of the world and make it do a break
dancing head spin. They say -you have an hour and half to kick some ass in the
movie business- so that's what I did, and left no one behind. Four Horses and No
Men with the right producer and director would fascinate the world. These days
technology and arts can do wonders, so I gave them something brilliant to work
with, and I would dabble in the arts of animation, cartoon, and film technology
myself or co-work with masters to get the film done, but you may find me with
the horses and trainers more than in the studio. The other screenplays need just
as much attention as my other children do.
How long have you been writing Historical Fiction/Non- Fiction Poetry Train novels? What inspires you?
Since January 7th 2010, and it was a cold wintry blizzard night in Princeton, IL
when the idea came to me in full, but it's been a seeded idea from two things for
sure with my collaborative childhood nature, but did not put all together until it
awoken me in the middle of the night. The place I found to post my poetry in
2008 was an online community with thousands of great unknown poets. The
owners of that site had a falling out and turned it into a free range wild ghost and
host town, and it's all explained in the beginning chapters of Poetry Train
America. Some of my greatest readers tell me to move on past that every time
that is mentioned or the emotions come back, and they are right- the Poetry Train
must move on! That night I was awoken to my intuition and it said Poetry and
Train so I did some thought, and googled poetry train, and typed poetrytrain.com
and I found out there was none and no domain name, so I opened a Facebook
account and page and a Youtube Channel, and worked hard and fast to get the
domain name, and created the poetry train. The train sat there for nearly seven
months while I pondered all of this. And one day I e-mailed my poet friend
Charles H. Gragg and said, 'Let’s move this poetry train and let’s see what this
would be,” and he replied, “I am on the right path.” Inspiration comes from every
Poet and Railroader with a story, and both of their histories through time. These
journeys are written documentaries as well as online promoting and archiving and
more than that literary arts in what I call a traveling poetry school to listen to
every poet, to learn, and to understand their perspectives and lives. I picked a
date in time to start from and that would be 1776 to the current date, so keep in
mind Poetry Train America is based from 1776 to 2013. The Poetry Train is a
reading time traveling vessel that takes readers and the online passengers from
the 19th century, 20th and into our current 21st on Poetry, Poets, and Railroad
history of each Poet and State. As I got about 5 states in the the journey
something happened. I found a mystery that I call the realm, and it is based upon
the wisdom of the poets, stories of railroaders and the secrets of place and time.
What I did was to keep it simple on the surface, but as I went on, I gathered the
wisdom and clues of this realm and kept it separate, safe and filed until I gathered
all the pieces of the puzzle and finished every state. Once done, I would analyze
all of this wisdom and put this puzzle together, and they are what the rising
chapters are at the end of the books. There are Poets that are/were so smart
which just boggles my mind. Some even knew a Poet, a person like me would
come, and by train to find them and their work again. Poets are the original
photographer, they wrote to us so we understand a perspective of their time, and
spirituality, and to relay wisdom. They used music of words, and so many other
literary tactics to convey this to us, if we got patient, read, listened and
contemplated the world around us, past present and future. I can go on and on
about the inspiration of all of this. I have a cousin who told me recently- “I am
glad you took photos, notes, videos and tapes of all of our songs, it shows how
good we were and it blows my mind, and then I did not care about all of that, and
I’m very happy you did.” When I think about what he said, I think the Poetry Train
novels, America, Canada, and now Africa are the same way, but in writing,
archiving and promoting. One day poets in these books will have the time to sit
down and recapture the beauty of a time and place. Furthermore and importantly
future poets, younger ones and poets not yet born one day will find these novels
and get to use these books to research us and the paths after we enter the next
realm of life. I call these people of the future the Wicked Papoose Caboose. The
rising chapters are the full picture I put together from the mystery we don't see
and wisdom pieces I found along the way. I call it the realm, and this realm has
revealed some astonishing, beautiful and important things. And one is the Poet
Igloo revealed in Poetry Train Canada.
What made you begin to try different systems, in all genres?
My key thing is to be original as all I can be, and stick to that until the end of this
life span. I started writing in 1987. I understand that all things derive from
something, sure, but you don't have to, or let people put limits on what you love
to do or the art of it all. World contamination free is a key to that. Blocking out
outer influence is the start, and the tinkering of the alphabet and words,
furthermore techniques of your own is next, and music keys too, rhythm.
Material, everything is material so one has to be careful of that when being
original. Once you find your own signature sound, then next step is to learn &
listen to others. Once I finally started to do in that in 2008, every door in the
house of literary arts opened up. You learn from everyone, if you pay attention
and use that for the best approach that does not over shadow the teacher. It's
very easy for people who learned much to recognize, if it's been done before,
because it's like music genres, once you hear it you know the influence right
away. Good is good, great is great- in all types of art but there's grand, and grand
is where grand stands, which only occurs for me in shutting my mouth, and
listening and speak when spoken to, and also do not point fingers and judge, just
learn all you can, and keep cool and smooth. I go through spats or moods if I let
outer influence enter. Like love poetry, I have my own, and I know it's original
because what put me there kept me there, and it's sacred and naked, making love
and making love to words takes passion and it's yours and whoever the poems
are meant for, and if these poems are public so be it, everyone needs love.
Recently Poets have seeded protest poetry in me, and anti-philosophy too so I
wrote these books, 'To Fetch My Tennis Racket For Wasps', 'Star Kill'. and 'Loulias'
Bunker' to hold my literary ground as Poet and not just an Historical fiction and
non-fiction, and new original novice screen writer. The Poetry book 'My Human
Leakage Test' also is a no-restrain book of poetry. One has to learn many things to
write about many things to be even to write grand things. I have learned a lot
these last 9 years and it has broken my spirit and re-built it many times over.
How would you define a true poet? What is Poetry like?
A Poet must love the art, and be not afraid to be free in it and also constrained. A
poet never sleeps, and always nurturing, seeding, thinking and sharing, but most
of all teaching, taking time for others, professional or novice. A poet must fight for
poetry until death. Poetry is the breath of humanity and will always be and I am
for sure of this, that's why some last deeds of people good or bad, last messages
are written in blood. Wisdom of a poet is crucial, the world knows it and it is
afraid of true poets I have noticed. Last thing, true Poets stick together, and they
must, but here the magic trick is, gathering the poetry audience and make them
happy to stick together in a grand world of wisdom and epiphany rainbows,
furthermore there's a poetry train carrying many poets and readers.
More info:
Website: https://poetrytrain.com
Castalia Press: http://www.castaliapress.com
