Your poem “You Made it Seem So Easy” places the reader directly in a heartbreaking burial scene. Do you find that writing helps you process difficult emotions?

I believe that writing or any other form of expression does help one process and deal with difficult emotions. With me, I usually need to wait a while (our cat went to heaven on Dec. 3, 2003), but of course, every detail of that awful event is still vivid in my mind and heart.

When did you compose this poem, and have your feelings of grief changed over that span of time?  

I wrote this poem about three or four years ago, but I don't date my poems, I just have a general idea of when they were written. For me, the depth of grief does not change, it's jagged edges do not change, but one has to learn to live with it.

What are some of your favorite anecdotes with Yoshi, the cat whom this poem is dedicated to? 

Yoshi was named after a little dragon in a video game my sons were playing at the time Yoshi started hanging around our house in 1992. At first, we could hear him mewing under the shrubbery at the front of our house. We would open the door and call 'here kitty' and after a few days of this, he came to us! We let him in the house and gave him milk and he stayed with us for eleven years, one of our few companions to remain with us from the time he arrived until he moved to heaven. Also, as cats do, he roamed all over the house and ended up sleeping in open drawers, my empty boot box, under the Christmas tree, and on top of a stack of clean towels in the linen closet. One evening, I glanced out the back window and Yoshi was sitting on the deck railing and about a foot away was another cat, a black one, sitting in the same way as Yoshi. Both were gazing at the woods that bordered our yard. I like to think that the black cat was his girlfriend.

Your poem is written in free-verse, adding to the narrator’s feeling of emotional bewilderment. Can you describe your approach to this poem’s construction?

This is a very interesting question. When I write a poem, it seems to take its own form, its own direction. It may come to me in couplets, or a single short or long piece, or something in between. It is almost as I don't govern the poem, it governs itself. Of course, there are times when I play around with the lines in a poem, but often I return to the original version.

When do you consider a poem truly finished?

A poet once stated that a poem is never finished; it is only abandoned. For the most part, I agree with this, although I think the truth behind that statement lies in the fact that poets are word-smiths- we love language and find ourselves tinkering with our poems, trying out different words, adding something here or there, taking away. But we have to be careful, because at the same time a poem is like a sculpture, if you chip away at a seemingly finished piece, it can end being all messed up. I consider a number of my poems to be finished, but I have to make myself leave them alone.  

When did you first begin writing poetry? Where do you commonly find poetic inspiration? 

I started to write poetry when I was in second grade. I wrote verse to begin with, but I never stopped writing and over the years my writing matured and improved. And, of course, I read a lot of nursery rhymes and in second grade my wonderful teacher introduced our class to modern poetry and I was captivated. Considering inspiration, it comes to me from everywhere- memories, observation, imagination, the natural world, the spiritual world, relationships, history, paintings, music- anything can inspire a poem.

Your bio reads that, on top of being a poet, you are a graphic designer, jeweler, and an animal rights activist. How do these occupations factor into your poetry?

All of these things stem from creativity and self-expression. I also crochet and make soap. These things don't really inform my poem, they are simply other forms of being creative. Except animals; I love them so much and often write poems where they play a part, directly or indirectly. If you go online and search for the site Your Daily Poem, then search the author section of the menu and find my name, you can read my poem "My Father Reincarnated as a Dog." It was posted on that website as the poem for Halloween a few years ago, which I thought was ideal.

Who are your poetic influences? Who would you recommend to readers who find resonance in your work?

For a body of work, I would recommend anything by Mary Oliver. I also love Spoon River Anthology. Jane Hirshfield, Deborah Pope, Claudia Emerson, Theodore Roethke (sp.?). I like some of Ted Kooser's work (he added my name to his Valentine's list), Billy Collins, Elizabeth Bishop, Marianne Moore, Adrienne Rich, Pablo Neruda. I could go on and on. William Shakespeare, Sharon Olds, Anne Sexton. All of these poets and more have influenced my writing.

Read Sherry’s poem, “You Made it Seem so Easy” in dulcet Literary magazine, vol. One, Issue No. 1.