Saturday, June 23 * 7 p.m. * ARTOMATIC * 1851 S. Bell Street * Crystal City * FEATURING.....
Pamela Murray Winters Maria Padhila
Devin Taylor Debbie Annen Cliff Lynn
Rocky Jones Richard Peabody
and the WHEEL-O-POETRY

Monday, June 18, 2012

His Excellency Devin Taylor

I don't think that Devin has any sort of royal or ecclesiastical title, but he IS excellent.


Q. When did you start writing poetry?



A. Well, technically I started writing poetry somewhere around age six. My only poem to have ever been published was written around then. It was about a rapping candy wrapper and it was published in some home school newsletter. I was homeschooled until fourth grade. In sixth grade, I wrote some damn poem about a magical kitty that I submitted to a contest and didn’t win or hear back from. We wrote a lot of poetry in ninth grade English. I have been writing poetry consistently since age 16, and have since then written over 500 poems.



Q. How do you define poetry?



A. Everybody always wants a definition for poetry, but I’m not sure I can really give one. It’s certainly expressive words arranged into usually somewhat cohesive thoughts. It’s a lot more emotive than most other forms of prose writing, because often the sole purpose of a poem is to convey your emotions to others so that they may share in them, whether the emotion is elation or depression. It can also be a form of storytelling, but usually with less of an emphasis on narrative and more on emotional resonance.




Q. What would you choose as your last meal?



A. Since I wouldn’t know what my death would be in this given scenario, I would chose handfuls and handfuls of pain killers, so that when I died I would be too doped up to feel anything.





Q. Where are you from and what is your spiritual homeland?



A. I consider where I’m from to encompass all places I’ve lived past and present, so in that case, I am from Silver Spring, Greenbelt, and Baltimore, Maryland. My spiritual homeland is a Cardiologist’s office, because I am a poet and consequently, a bleeding heart. Or perhaps a food bank, for I am also a starving artist.



Q. If they made a movie of your life, what would be the title, what would be the theme song, and who would play you?

A. I already made a movie about my life, and who are they?

The movie I made is called “My Brief Life as Devin Taylor”, though to be fair, I didn’t actually make it. My friend did. He directed it, I just starred in it.

The theme song would be a little instrumental I made called “Oingo Boingo” (yes, named after the Danny Elfman band).







[Devin later e-mailed to ask : “could you change my title song to ‘The Boy With Perpetual

 Nervousness’ by the Feelies? And in that case, make the song I said was my

 title song instead be my theme song.” This film will have an awesome soundtrack.]



As for who would play me, if not to play myself, and assuming this is fiscally and legally possible, I would clone myself and have the clone play me.



Q. What's your sign?

A. If I had to choose, it would be a tie between “Beware of Dog” and “No Trespassing”.  Just kidding. In all seriousness, I am a Sagittarius. 

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