D. GARCIA-WAHL
10 QUESTIONS BY MARC BOWEN












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10 Questions for D. Garcia -Wahl


1. Does being a tortured soul make a person a
better poet?

D.:  A poet is born poet.  The "tortured soul" aspect of it comes from how the poet responds to the weight of being a poet.  But the same goes for the painter or the sculptor.  Every artist (this title is not elastic) comes across different elements to the art which can be allowed to become "tortures".  It can be anything from how one responds to the creativity filtering through them to trying to deal with not being able to create a replica of what is envisioned in the mind.  Sometimes the "torture" is social, sometimes it is created within the artist by the artist.  Is it necessary? (I shrug my shoulders)  Does it make one a better poet?  (I shrug my shoulders a second time)

I don't know what makes a poet a poet anymore than I know what makes a painter a painter.  I don't understand what "muse" is.  And I don't want to understand any of this.  Whatever that element is should not be questioned.  Just be grateful that the poet is the poet and the painter is the painter.  Question it and you are in danger of losing it all.

 

2.What is your favorite city in the world?

 

D.:  This is a most difficult question for me.  The answer lies, however, in western Europe.  Florence or Madrid.  Oxford or a dozen hamlets in Germany, I don't know.  I was born displaced.  America never was the place for me.  I can say, however, that the area around Neuschwannstein in Germany is the most beautiful place on Earth.  If there is a tangible Heaven - it is there.

 



3. If you could ask God one question, what
would it be?

 

D.:  Why did you fill me with most

        of what I could least understand?



4. If you could pick the next President of the
U.S., who would you choose?

 

D.:  As I age, I become less willing to play the game of American politics.  It is not that I have no interest.  It is a matter of refusing to play the ridiculous game that it demands.  Both the democrats of old and the republicans of old are dead.  What exists now is a band of children that serve little purpose.  And America allows for nothing else.  What has happened to the statesmen of this country?  It is all frustrating and depressing.  I would rather follow it silently.  Who would I chose for President?  Anyone that could burn the system to the ground and rebuild with America's original principles intact.

5. What inspires you to write?

 

D.:  I write because it comes to me as naturally as breath.  I cannot help but do what I do.  It is part of my autonomic system.  Inspiration/muse - It comes but without my understanding.  I have no interest in understanding it.  When I learned new songs on guitar and piano, I had a feeling of having lost a sense of magic to the song after hearing it on album.  I had learned the technical part of it all.  I had learned how the clock worked by taking it apart.  I don't want to take my writing inspiration apart for fear of not being able to put it back together once I took it apart and understood it.  Mostly, I don't want to lose the wonder of it all.  It comes and regardless what brings it, I am satisfied.



6. If you could take only one book with
you when you go to that desert isle what
would you take?

 

D.:  "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevski.  The perfect novel!  End of discussion.

7. When you need to get away from it all where
do you go?

 

D.:  Usually my den to read, write, or watch a film.  It is the only place in the world where I feel comfortable.

8. What makes you laugh?

 

D.:  I have a very treacherous sense of humor.  It comes to a head whenever I get bored.  It can get quite cynical and cruel at times.  My lovers have scattered when they notice I get bored and am looking for something to amuse myself.

9. What is your favorite swear word?

 

D.:  "Fuck".  I know it is a cliche to answer with "fuck".  It is along the same lines of answering "Citizen Kane" as your favorite movie.  But there is a reason for such cliche.  It is the perfect swear word.  It still affects people the same way it always did.  We have never really become desensitized by it.  So "fuck" would be my favorite even though I have been using "cocksucker" quite a bit lately.

10. Why is the human race so fucked?

 

D.:  The human race is fucked as much as it is beatific.  It all comes as part of a necessary balance.  The novel I have coming out early in 2004, UNTIL WE OUTDISTANCE GOD, deals with the thought that tragedy is every bit as beautiful as the joy in life.  Both elements make life wondrous.  Whether you are giving me tragedy or giving me joy, you are giving me a true gift.  It's all life.  It's all life.