The title of this poem, “Wind Is the Reason”, invites the reader to find out what the wind is responsible for. What are some experiences in your life that can be attributed to the wind?

Wind was a constant growing up east of the divide in Montana. Average velocity per day was always high in national rankings.

 I have another poem where wind takes on a quasi-deified status, all seeing, maybe all powerful. That poem is in the voice of the wind. Its roots have always reminded me of a primitive characterization of a huge force determining our lives, piece of a local or personal mythology.

 The details in “Wind Is the Reason” are all true. One thing I left out was my daughter asking, as we were bent over walking to the car, “So you grew up here?” When I nodded she said, “That explains a lot.”

This poem’s use of enjambment and free-verse complements its theme of the wind. Can you speak to its construction? How does the structure of a poem usually occur to you? 

To be honest, this type of structure is typical for my poems, regular stanzas combined with irregular line and stanza breaks with a voice that tends to push against the structure. Structure, for me, comes most often during the composition phase, since for me structure is important to the voice. It can change during rewrites, but the initial structure comes early.

There is a feeling of bittersweet reminiscence in your poem. What are some experiences that prompted you to write this poem? 

Bittersweet reminiscence isn’t uncommon in my poems, especially those involving my home town. It was a great place for a boomer childhood in a family of five kids. About the age of 14, though, it started to seem very small. It was definitely a place I wanted to leave when I could. I still have some friends there. My sister lives there, too. I know for a fact, though, I couldn’t. I don’t get along with everyone I know who still lives there, for reasons perhaps hinted at in stanza three , spilling over to four. The bittersweetness has a lot to do with having partially rejected my home, and the people there, perhaps part of myself, which is what a lot of us do.

When did you first begin writing poetry? Who are some authors that influenced you then and influence you now? 

I didn’t start writing poems until my mid-20s. I considered myself a fiction writer, but in truth, not a very productive one. I was on a break after four years in the English department and took a poetry writing class at a community college. I wrote a few poems that were well-received and I had a feeling right then I’d found my form, the best way for me to learn how to write. I’ve done a lot of commercial writing, including over a hundred blogs in the last 10+ years. I’m also a musician and songwriter, but poems, for me, have always been the source of words and voice.

As a Poet in the Schools, what was your role in educating young people about poetry? Did this experience change you as a reader and writer?

My role as a visiting poet, at least in my mind, was not to enlighten them but get them to write and perhaps enlighten themselves. Depending on the age, I had examples and tricks to get things started, but mostly I wanted kids in the composition phase, not writing as readers or editors. I’m not sure if teachers in the schools I visited viewed things the same way. Some clearly did. The Arts Council published an anthology of K-12 student poems at the end of each year. Grown-ups were invariably stunned by what they read, not the cute, sing-songy poems they might have expected but the real thing. When that happened, I knew in the moment this would be the best job I’d ever have.

Read Scott’s poem, “Wind Is the Reason” in dulcet Literary magazine, vol. One, Issue No. 1.