Welcome to another interview. Today I’m interviewing the lovely Ana Daksina of California in the U.S. Her blog is called: Timeless Classics: Poetry by Ana Daksina.

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1. Please Tell Us About Yourself, Your Writing Goals and What You Hope to Accomplish On Your Blog? 

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Who I am is truly unimportant — for the purposes of poetry, I’m a willing hand with a pen in it (or these days, a mobile device with my thumb on it). All my work is channeled or inspired directly from my mind.

As for goals and hopes, I’ve often mused that the creative urge bears much resemblance to the biological urge for procreation. I have a sourceless but raging desire to spew as many fertile words to as many recipients as possible. I don’t, however, find I need to know what becomes of my poetry after it’s written and posted. 

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2. What Is It Like Where You Live? When Did You Begin Writing and Blogging?

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At this point, I am the quintessential poverty stricken artiste in a freezing garret. My garrett happens to be an unheated tent. I wrote my first poem at the age of nine, and have never looked back.

As for blogging, two-years ago, I released a web book on homelessness, which has been well received. In my precarious position, wobbling on the bottom rungs of our economic ladder, the acquisition of a laptop is difficult. Of course, one is needed to edit pages of writing and this is one of the worst hurdles to that accomplishment. I’ve not been successful in acquiring one to use on behalf of my poetry writing.(If anyone knows of A way to help Ana with this, please contact her here on here CONTACT PAGE.)

However, imagine my delight six-weeks ago (in December) to find that our most dignified platform — WordPress (yaaaaay!) not only permits mobile editing but has developed an app to facilitate it! I wrote my first post the moment I discovered the WordPress App on my phone.

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“I have a sourceless but raging desire to spew as many fertile words to as many recipients as possible. I don’t, however, find I need to know what becomes of my poetry after it’s written and posted.” – Ana Daksina

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3. Where Do You Find Your Inspiration and Motivation to Keep Writing and Blogging? Tell Us More About Why You Write? 

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I can’t seem to help my damn-self, to be truthful about it 🙂 Also, blogging online is much easier, blue-ballpoints pens are a b*tch. As Ana writes on her About Page on blog site:

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“The power of rhythmic words . . . brings us [and her] into closer contact with all that is deepest, highest, and finest in each of [ourselves].” She also writes to provide ” inspiration to continue offer[ing] the world all [she has] to . . . offer it.” As well, she hopes that in blogging and writing, that her our “heart[s our] mirror[s] of [hers] and that [people] realize how beautiful [they truly] are.” – Ana Dakinsa

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4. What Are Your Blogging Habits? What Do You Enjoy Most About Writing? Is There A Particular Time of Day You Like to Write Most? 

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A blog is like a baby — one thinks about it all the time, checks on it constantly talks to it frequently, and cheerfully burps it after meals. In short, you have nurture your blog as you would a child. All in all, I feel that writing, in itself, its ecstasy, so I keep to writing. Extremely late at night, I find the wavelengths in my mind quiet and clear. The transmission of words to screen sharpens for me then, and I write my best work.

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“All in all, I feel that writing, in itself, its ecstasy, so I keep on writing.” – Ana Daksina

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5. Are Your Working on Any Specific Writing Projects? Do You Have Any Published Writing or Poetry? 

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I recently completed a seven sonnet series based on different reasons to be thankful. Also, I have been given the heads up for a couple more similar series on other subjects that are soon to come through for me. 

I’ve been published over the decades in isolated publications all over the world. Unfortunately, this life has featured sufficient upheaval, in that my records of these publications are now lost (along with my first 1500 pages of other writing). I’ve also published a chapbook of original poetry called, Didn’t We Dance, which is now out of print. It was released by Artaud’s Elbow, North Beach, San Francisco when I was in my twenties and second-generation Beats were still gathering at the Spaghetti Factory for live readings.

Also, I’ve written a web-book called, The New Holocaust: Homelessness in America and What We Can Do About It. This book was given beautiful page-long reviews by both Rebelle and Namaste and is creates compassion in over thirty-six nations. (MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THIS BLOG SITE OUT! AMAZING!!!)

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6. Can You Briefly Describe Your Writing Process? 

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• Wait for the right call.
• Grab my phone
• Move the thumb on the keyboard as fast as it will go, taking dictation.
• Done! Rarely is there a need for me to edit my poetry. A typical sonnet completes itself in five to fifteen minutes.

I live breathe, eat, and sleep poetry. The rest is incidental. 

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“Also, I’ve written a web-book called, The New Holocaust: Homelessness in America and What We Can Do About It. This book was given beautiful page-long reviews by both Rebelle and Namaste and is creates compassion in over thirty-six nations.” – Ana Daksina

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7. Do Your Prefer Certain Writing or Reading Genres? Is There Anything Else You’d Like To Share With Us?

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After my writing is complete, I’m left with poetry in about as many voices and styles as the English language is heir to. So I often reread those.

Oh, hell yes! There are two hundred poetic and quotational rants on my site which would make a beginning… but you can check out my blog to read those! Here’s the link again: Timeless Classics.

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8. Do You Have Any Favorite Blogs? 

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I do love almost every WordPress offering that I come across, but I do have a couple of favorite blogs:

• First, the Blog: Success Inspirers World, for its good heart.
• Also, I enjoy: Like Mercury Colliding, for Kat’s good heart, as well.

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9. Can You Share With Us A Few Links For Your Blogs, Some of Your Favorites? 

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Because of the great variety of voices in which I speak through in my poetry and other writing, a truly representational sampling would comprise the extensive listing of works. Here, however, are a handful that readers might enjoy: 

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This is The Passion . . .

By

Ana Daksina

(Free Verse)

*****

*****

this is the passion

... with which the deafening beethoven

pounded his piano

the passion

which saw gandhi 

saw the hunger strikers 

dwindle away into just skin and bone  

this is the knife-edged, unfulfilled passion 

which set christ to writhing on the cross 

the passion of life 

which springs up through cracks in the cement

and endures the footsteps of the passing masses

this is the howling 

which followed the early ones 

into the lions' dens 

over the prairies 

across the bulwarks behind the lines of the enemy camp 

which spiraled down with each kamikaze 

and finds its home underground 

in the deep damp woods or city sewers 

howling 

among the workers 

of all the past, present and future 

resistances 

of the world

this is the knowledge 

guarded with the suffering silence 

of untold generations of plain humble wizards  

unrobed, ascetic 

free in their bondage

wand'rers of air 

the burning liquid rolling in waves through their veins  

the burning 

of human torches 

who have yearned to be free 

and who would not be silent 

because the words rose up 

and spilled forth from their tongues like honey 

the draught 

written of all through the ages 

requiring a pure vessel 

for its ultimate 

volatile 

essence

this is the passion, this  

must be the passion  

nothing can stem its flow  

not my four year old kid's hippo slippers 

not the cold heavy metal  

of all the machinery of all the world 

not my own tender smallness 

not the desire for something to eat or drink  

in this godforsaken place  

where i happened to be

when this happening found me 

not even the shortage 

of paper at hand 

since it after all 

can still be scratched 

in the dirt

this is the connection 

this is the substance 

this was the message they all tried to get across 

this is the desire 

for the life that was ours before time began and  

could be again 

this is the intoxicating  

possible 

vision 

this is 

and always has been 

the passion

*****

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Here’s Some More of Ana’s Wonderful Work!

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• “Given’ It Up For Love”  A metric poem by Ana Daksina
• “Before the Door”  a Sonnet by Ana Daksina
• “Playin’ Ain’t Playin'”  a Street Poem by Ana Daksina
• “A New Haiku” a Haiku by Aa Daksina
• “In Aware Community (Reprise)”  by Ana Daksina (a more recent piece).

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Thanks so much to Ana for filling out the interview questions and sharing with us all your wonderful and authentic artistic flare, and perspective on poetry and life. I’ll see you soon for another writer or author interview.

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