I first heard Candy
read at a Fire River Poets open mic at the Brewhouse. What struck me from the
start was the immediacy of her work; it grabbed me from the first word. I was
impressed by her emotional honesty and the beauty of her language. Here I thought
is a poet who can transform everything the world throws at her into beauty. Her
work is honest and accessible to all.
I had the honour of
appearing alongside her in the Freeze Frame anthology at the end of last year.
Candy is also a member of Juncture 25.
In 2005 her first
collection was published Candy Colours, one reviewer described it as “straight
from the heart…a lady who understands and faces life full on.”
Let’s hear what
Candy has to say.
WHAT GOT YOU WRITING IN THE FIRST PLACE?
I spent years having this tumultuous love affair with poetry
and after many a lovers tiff would tear up my work –only to be drawn back in
again. Nowadays I use a laptop as well as pen and paper but back in the day I
would get what I came to know as the ‘pull of pen’.
It has light and shade of course and I often think mine has
too much shade but that is how it is. Once a poem is complete there is a
satisfaction, a release of tension not unlike love. It does not however last
forever.
I was a busy reader when I was younger-more than I do now-I
suppose I had less distractions, and it became clear to me that when words
work-they really work and it still makes me feel good.
WHO INFLUENCES YOU ?
There are so many poets that I admire, so many poems that I
have read that make you just feel-WOW!! And it isn’t a feeling you can really
share, it tends to be a party for one. To mention a few: Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes,
Simon Armitage, Tony Harrison, Mark Haddon,
Stevie Smith, Phillip Larkin,
W.B.Yeats, W.H. Auden, Mary Oliver,
Christina Rosetti, Phil Lynott, Maya Angelou …………………and so many more . Poets I
meet with now and have the amazing opportunity to share with, to be challenged
by, to trust enough to speak up with. I am talking about the poetry group
JUNCTURE 25-it is a real pleasure and honour to be part of this group. There
will be times when we meet and one or other reads one of their poems and I am
transported to that place, that feeling .
If I crave anything it is that connection.
WHERE DO YOU GET IDEAS FROM?
Life experiences and all that entails. I am mostly driven
emotionally so my work will come from that rather than perhaps –nature. Whilst
this may sound egocentric I believe that whilst we are unique we can all share
a theme. I get a real kick out of someone relating to my work as I do when I relate
to someone else’s.
FREE VERSE OR FORM-WHICH DOES IT FOR YOU?
I tend to favour free verse and often a poem will find its
own rhythm, sometimes rhyme works and sometimes not. I have been challenged by
writing to form and it does require more discipline and I have enjoyed the
experience. It does not always come naturally. It is something I struggle with,
often feeling I should be more academic but am always afraid of losing
passion………….
WHATS IN THE PIPELINE?
More of more of the same hopefully! I hope that the poetry
group I belong to will publish an anthology this year. I should start a web
page !!! I should do a lot of things. I am the world’s worst (best?)
procrastinator, however I have started the book-the one that’s been in my head
for about 20 years-so maybe once its on the page it will leave me alone J. We have some gigs
coming up which I am very excited about including the Porlock Arts Festival-
Porlock has a great history with poets so its cool to live here.
IF YOU WERE INTERVIEWING YOURSELF-WHAT QUESTION WOULD YOU ASK YOURSELF?
What have you been doing all this time????????????? I don’t
know that I have an answer though.
IF YOU WERE A BOOK WHAT BOOK WOULD YOU BE AND WHY?
I would like to be a South American novel, I love the way
they write with colour and passion with few holds barred.
Here are a couple
of Candy’s poems:
AN AMERICAN
IN LONDON
I don’t
remember your name
your face Is
blurred, your touch less so
and thirty
five years have gone.
But I
remember your words:
Falling mouth to mouth
Through the random
serenity of hell
I loved you then.
We would eat
in the spaghetti houses
in Goodge
street and fill up on
cheap
Chianti before making
our way to
the hotels in Paddington
where we
would trip the light fantastic
in our
twilight world.
Always the
night.
I was
skipping along
being shiny
and bright, picking up
before
putting down when bored;
my playmates
who kept the devil at bay.
You must
have been escaping-
her I guess
whoever she
was.
You were
always gone by the morning
and I would
make my way back ,
back from
our secret world
to the one I
was escaping too.
I smiled,
it was ok.
You had admired
amongst other parts
the mole on
my stomach.
I agreed
with you and said
I liked it
as it broke up the
monotony of
my abdomen.
You smiled
and said
that had I stayed stateside
I just would
have said “it’s neat”.
I found your
words in my notebook
The day
after I told you I was bored
and called
time.
I smiled.
Little by
little I have let go
the brittle
armour that held me so,
the mole too
has gone.
Your words
remain and
I smile.
Candy Bright
2013
RELEASE
The room was calling her again
it was time to extinguish the light
she might call but no one came
Now and then she loved the pain
she welcomed in the night
the room was calling her again
Crimson pools where she had lain
testimony to her plight
she might call but no one came
Others may show their disdain
but she had little left for fight
the room was calling her again
Shallow breath her life to claim
it goes so slow out of spite
she might call but no one came
Be so still this too shall wane
and scars heal on limbs so white
the room was calling her again
she might call but no one came
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