Freddy Niagara Fonseca didn’t care for poetry when he was a boy living in South America, but at age 29, he was inspired by the inscription on a statue of Lord Byron in a park in Rome and immediately began writing poetry in his second language, English. In this conversation, we explore many forms of poetry and get a feel for Freddy’s strong (and playful) sense of rhythm. Freddy talks about editing his poems, reading poetry in multiple languages, and the difficulty of translating from one language to another. “The Bomb that Blew Up God and Other Serious Poems” is Freddy’s second book; the first, “This Enduring Gift” was an anthology of poetry from writers with a Fairfield, IA connection.
A poem, according to me, is never finished. I read, and reread it, and let it sink in. At some point I think, ‘I really don’t know how I could do it any better,’ so that’s what it is right now.
Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness
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