Mike Maggio: the COVID Poetry & Art Project

We are especially excited to bring you the work of Mike Maggio, the founder of the COVID Poetry & Art Project. Mike Maggio is a poet, fiction writer and DCTRENDING contributor, based in Northern Virginia. But he’s also a social activist and a constant collaborator with other writers and artists. Instead of simply producing his own writing, Mike is always looking for opportunities to work with others, to collaborate, to be more creative together than apart. He brings that spirit of connection and collaboration into his chat with us about what it’s like to be a writer during a global pandemic.

Read more about the COVID Poetry and Art Project here!

Innominate

by Mike Maggio

I.

Today, a tulip trembled in the breeze:

an urgent temptation to bloom.

II.

When I awoke,

it was to the delusion of dream.

III.

Outside, a vicious wind.

Outside, the trees. Fearful.

IV.

One moment, seclusion.

One moment, a prickly crown of memory.

V.

There’s nothing we can’t touch.

Nothing we can lay a finger on.

VI.

Sweet dove, waving from the wilderness,

wherefore this social distancing?

VII.

In a moment of delirium,

I journeyed to my mother’s grave.

VIII.

Nothing on the horizon.

Not even a ghosting of sun.

IX.

2,000,000+ sick.  200,000+ dead.

I cannot count to infinity.

X.

One dark night, I witness my reflection

taunting the reaper.

-- Spring 2020

Chatting with Mike

Can you tell us about this piece and what led you to create it? How has the pandemic influenced your art? 

The piece is meant to be minimalist and, in being minimalist, is meant to address an unprecedented situation without any adornment. And yet, it strives to be poetic. The lines that came first and that inspired the piece are “In a moment of delirium,/ I journeyed to my mother’s grave.” It seemed to me, at the time, to sum up the surreal experience that COVID was and still is. It, of course, brings to mind the high fever which accompanies illnesses like COVID and which causes the sufferer to be delirious. But there are all the other allusions in the poem: not being able to touch anything; the social distancing that is anathema to our nature; and the unspeakable number of deaths that the pandemic has led to and which continues. Thus: “I cannot count to infinity.” The speaker in the poem does not want to and cannot continue enumerating the number of deaths around the world.

What role do you think the arts play in times of turmoil and uncertainty?

The arts are in a particularly precarious position at this time: no gatherings means no plays, no concerts, no poetry readings. And that means no revenue which, of course, sustains those venues. Sustains the lives of artists. And yet, the arts, like the human race itself, are resilient, and this has led to imaginative ways of continuing the experience of creativity. Zoom, of course, has been a major force in this development. And so we have all sorts of artistic organizations using their creative minds to maintain their existence and their relevance. There have been concerts via Zoom in which the individual musicians are not even in the same place, let alone in the same room. Imagine! And of course, poetry and the literary arts have also taken to Zoom which has led to interesting developments. I’m giving a poetry reading in Oregon this April, though I will not be stepping outside my Virginia home. Ultimately, I think the arts have given people a way of addressing the pandemic and of coping with it.

What are you viewing, reading, watching, and/or listening to these days?

Well, as always, I’m listening to Yoko Ono, an endless source of inspiration for me. But I also listen to plenty of classical music—Baroque in particular, especially Bach, but there are others. And recently I took out the first cello concerto by Shostakovich which is an utterly manic, disturbing piece of music which I absolutely love. I’m reading Jane Austin’s Mansfield Park, which I’m almost done with and am now looking for something new to read. Since most libraries are not operating normally, I end of going to my own library and pulling out old books from there, some of which I’ve never read. Watching? I don’t watch much TV except for the news and HGTV (I love “Love It or List It” because the two characters, David and Hillary, are so entertaining) and, of course, PBS.

Do you have a favorite D.C. area writer or artist?

This is a really hard question for me to answer because I don’t want to slight anyone. There are so many good writers and artists in our area, many of whom I know, that it’s hard to choose. Grace Cavalieri is one. She’s a wonderful poet and has so many other talents (as you know she participated in this project and was just featured in DCTrending). Zeina Azzam, a Palestinian-American poet, is also one of my favorites. Eric Pankey and Jennifer Atkinson are also on my list. As for artists: Matt Pinney is a wonderful artist and one of my favorites. His work is original and explorative.

Anything else that you want to say?

We live in an era of great creativity and of great turmoil. Somehow, the two always seem to go together. As artists, we respond, knowingly or unknowingly, to the things that surround us. It is our responsibility to address the issues head on but with honesty. And it is our duty, I truly believe, to use our creativity, in whatever form it manifests itself, for the greater good. Art for art’s sake: yes, there is something to say about that. But art for humanity’s sake: that is how we must make use of our talents.

About the Poet

Mike Maggio has published fiction, poetry, reviews, and Arabic translations in journals and anthologies in the United States and abroad. Currently, he is the on the board of the Poetry Society of Virginia. He is also an associate-editor at Potomac Review and recently served as a judge for the Oregon Poetry Association’s annual poetry contest. He is the author of Your Secret Is Safe With Me, an audio collection of poems, Oranges From Palestine (and other poems), two collections of short fiction, Sifting Through the Madness and The Keepers, and a full-length collection of poetry, deMockracy, a hard-hitting, poetic critique of the Bush administration. He has also published a full length novel, The Wizard and the White House, a novella, The Appointment, and most recently a collection of short stories Letters from Inside. Find him online at www.MikeMaggio.net.