Redefining Beauty by Karla K. Morton (Part 2)

Karla K. Morton (Photo credit: Walter Eagleton)

As promised, here is the second part of an interview with Karla K. Morton.  Her recent book, Redefining Beauty, is a book of poems that explores Karla’s breast cancer journey.

You are traveling around Texas as the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, and you’ve come to be known as the Poet Warrior. Congratulations! What has that experience been like for you?

I do think that “survivor” should be replaced with “warrior.”  We all have our demons, no matter what they are, and this book shows us that we can take control, even if it’s just the smallest control — in prayer, or shaving our own heads and not letting our hair fall, or choosing to smile and joke and laugh when we’re going through this hell.  This is what being a warrior is all about.  We are all afraid, but we walk onto that battlefield anyway.

I have been having so much fun in my Little Town, Texas Tour — I don’t believe in coincidences.

When I first got the call naming me the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, it was the exact date of my first cancer surgery nightmare a year before.  It was if God was saying, “Oh no, I’m not finished with you yet!”.

And I thought, okay how can I give back?

So I thought of the kids — I first learned about the title of Texas Poet Laureate when I was in school, and I remember thinking, “Wow.  If only I could be that person!”.  It inspired me in so many ways.  So, I thought  I would take it back to the kids.

I am traveling to schools and communities all across the state, and, for just an hour or two, poetry and the Arts are the center of attention.

Schools have no budget, and the only thing I ask of them is that they hold (and judge) a poetry and an art contest about their town.  Texas has such a sense of place about it, and I want to foster that in kids through the Arts.

Each town I visit, I am writing a poem about, and then choosing the kids’ winning poetry and/or artwork from each school — that way kids all across the state have a chance to be published!  And nothing inspires writers more than seeing their byline — their name and work in print!

Along the way, I am honoured to be a part of any place that would like me to come to speak or raise awareness or funds for the fight against cancer.  If I know of an oncology center, I like to leave a couple of books for their libraries, and for the schools’ libraries as well.  Cancer touches every one of us in one form or another.  I have attended events and fundraisers such as “Look Good, Feel Better,” Silver Spurs, church support groups, Ft. Worth Stockshow “Rodeo Goes Pink” and others.  Any chance I can, I love to support all these groups.

The landscape of Texas is present in a few of the poems. You bring the scalding Texas sun into “Radiation” and describe a delicious weekend in “Padre Island, Texas.”Are you a native Texan?

Oh, what a great question!

Absolutely!  I am a native Texan, and as Texans, that sense of place stays with us wherever we go.  It gives us immediate roots; a feeling that we are a part of something greater than ourselves.  I use this feeling in my work, drawing in the culture, the landscape, the people.  We are all, together, Texans.  We support and love our State and everyone in it!

The landscape is so freeing, and so diverse.  We have the thicket, the plains, the ocean, the hills, the prairies.  We have physical beauty at every turn.  In “Radiation,” the feeling is the sun.  It burns everything except these cactus succulents, who are nourished and healed by the sun.  During my own radiation treatments, I was so thankful for these plants of aloe vera.  They gave their own lives as they soothed and healed my burns.  Then the sun, in turn, would heal their wounds from me.  Also in that idea, was the radiation itself.  It scalded the skin around my wound, but ultimately brought healing effects to my body.

I am in love with Texas, and relate to this land in so many ways.  Traveling around on my Tour, I just can’t help but fall in love over and over and over again.  How could you stand on the edge of the Palo Duro Canyon and not know that God is there?

And last –but certainly not least—who are your favorite poets?

Wow, that’s a tough question because I have so many favourites!

I love everyone from Byron and Shelley, Pablo Neruda, Ed Hirsch, William Stafford, Wendy Barker, Naomi Shihab Nye to Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein.

Two of the poets who have influenced me most, I think, are both Texas Poets Laureates — Alan Birkelbach and Walt McDonald, and Walt is the one I reach for as a triggering point — when I feel a poem coming on, and want to bring it out.  Walt’s poems, many of which are set in West Texas, touch me deeply.  I also like his storytelling ways, which is my style as well.

The amazing thing about other poets is that I learn from all of them.  I am constantly discovering incredible writers!

Wow, I am so grateful to Karla for her time!

To learn more about Karla K. Morton, visit her website. Redefining Beauty is available from the publisher, major online booksellers, and it is in Texas bookstores.

A note of disclosure and thanks to the publisher , Dos Gatos Press, for providing me with a copy of the book.