about Tricia
Tricia Johnson is a poet wishing to share her work with others, by using the written word to embrace one another’s humanity. She is a retired teacher. She lives in the beautiful hills of Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. Published work includes the poem “Living with Lupus” which appeared in Still You Poems of Illness & Healing, Wolf Ridge Press 2020.
Whirl Away girl
The Diagnosis: You have an Autoimmune Disease.
The Question: How are You?
What is this new life you have been handed? Where does it lead? How do you even feel? Sometimes the pathway ahead is murky, seemingly impossible to pass through. Life throws you a twist you didn’t see, know or desire.
In the midst of adversity, how do you cope? How do you process? How do you move forward?
Join this poetic journey of intimate details through the ache of life’s unraveling, from the maddening free fall of diagnosis, to emerging and seeing the beautiful possibilities of living with chronic illness.
Whirl away, arms wide to embrace what is yet to come…
Sway
Poems that welcome and embrace Mother Nature’s seasonal wind blown mysteries.
This book of poetry invites you to pause, kneel down in a meadow and experience the flora and fauna of Pennsylvania. To live among the rolling hills and valleys, as nature’s changing rhythms keep the time.
In Sway, by Tricia Johnson, we imagine ourselves in the wilds of Nature with our heads resting on the back of our arms, eyes wide, observing the Living World.
Interviews
Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Barbara Bamberger Scott is talking with Tricia Johnson, author of Sway.
FQ: How much of your poetic observer is authentically you?
JOHNSON: Yes, I am 100% the poetic observer. The epitome of this is found on page 7 of Sway, in the poem “Traveling Between the Two”. “Part of her grounded/ part of her soaring/ she leans further back/ in the striped sling chair” I sit upon my chair, gaze out upon the hillside, hedgerow, meadow, where the trees touch the sky and I am trying to capture the exact sensory experience I am in. As my poetry is so much of me, it makes it very intimidating to share my work, to put myself out there on such a personal level.
FQ: Does positing and writing about nature’s wonders give you a sense of hope?
JOHNSON: Absolutely; nature’s wonders are my hope. In her mysteries and continuous cycles, I find the definition of hope: a simple bird in flight, an insect, breeze, summer song of cricket, a butterfly come to pause on my pant-leg.
FQ: Explain the satisfaction that a poet experiences when s/he finds the “perfect” opening or last line for a particular work.
JOHNSON: When you are in the flow, words tumble down effortlessly onto the page and then the perfect ending strikes you, you breathe in and out slowly, eyes go soft and look to nothing, as it is finished. It is a cerebral, reverent and thankful moment capturing the perfect turn of phrase that lets you know, to your marrow, that the poem is captured. One of my final lines that reemerges into my mind often is, “As sun keeps shadows bold” page 78. In comparison, it is similar when writing a beginning line, that takes you on your way, begins the journey as words cluster about in your head begging to be chosen.
FQ: What poets specially influenced your desire to explore this medium?
JOHNSON: I was gifted an anthology of poetry for my 18th birthday. It opened my eyes to the sweetness of a short phrase, layered meanings, urging me to explore them. The book is filled with all the classic poets I have come to love: Wheeler Wilcox, Poe, Emerson, Longfellow, Barrett Browning, Byron, Shelly, Moore, Wordsworth—the list goes on. This book is yellowed and dogeared and still has a place of prominence on my shelf. I enjoy the classics, even though my own poetry is so very modern.
FQ: Did the isolation of “Covid times” spur you to write more, share more?
JOHNSON: With the isolation that Covid wrought, I feel that it forced us all to stop. The small things became more noticeable; we had the time to observe. I am an avid observer of nature with all its intricacies and savory imperfections. It drives my creativity and makes me want to share what I see with others. In this virulent climate we now live in, I want to share a touch of light and hope.
FQ: What would you recommend to someone, a young woman perhaps, hoping to pursue a career or avocation as a poet?
JOHNSON: Somewhere along my path I heard the expression “write what you know,” and I find this to be very true. I feel you write best when you do exactly that. If you live in the mountains or on the shore, inner city or small town, write your own experience and you will find your true voice.
FQ: Do you have plans for more writing of a similar nature?
JOHNSON: I have many poems about nature; she is one of my muses. How could she not be? So, yes, hopefully I will have more to say and share with the world in the future.
Sway is a collection of poetry that embraces the reader in nature and encourages them to be one with the Living World. What was the inspiration for this collection of poetry?
The drive behind my nature poetry comes from my lifelong fascination with nature. It is me sitting outside trying to capture the moment. Everything my senses take in and expressing it to paper. The simple pondering of the infinite unknown: What would it be to fly on the wind through the trees? To catch a bright maple leaf or have legs covered in thick yellow pollen? What does nature show, ask of us? and committing this to verse.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
When I am writing I do not do so with theme in hand as a conscious thought. Themes erupt organically as I am writing in the exact day, time, season in my back yard. The intense seasons in the Northeastern United States naturally draw on change, transitions, beginnings and endings, so these themes are present in my poetry. The reflection of fall, introspection of winter, awakening of spring, glory of summer. In a way, nature chooses my themes.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your poetry collection?
I would like people to see the pure beauty of our living environment, to smell the sweet fallen leaf decay and soil laden spring rain. There is a healing energy to nature, a pausing to notice the interconnections of life. It is an energy, as I say in “Cells,” a “Slow down take it in energy/ Invades every cell in I/ Listen, feel, succumb.” I wish for readers to notice nature, find her hope, peace and ultimate joy.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
What am I working on next? I am always writing. I try to write every day. My poetry encompasses everything about my life, shaped by the beautiful hills and valleys where I live. I imagine more poetry dealing with nature could be in store. As I compile and work on the poems I have written and will write, a new theme will emerge and urge me to a new book. As of now I am focused on Sway as it has just released.