Interview With Deborah Guzzi

“Confidence comes from challenging yourself, testing yourself out in the larger world, seeing if you can take a punch, seeing if needed you can give one.”

Deborah Guzzi’s poem” Dated Containers” was published this week here.

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Interview with Deborah Guzzi

E: How did “Dated Containers” come to be?

Deborah: Seeing the humor in things is a very important attribute, yet, it is a hard thing to do. I’m a very serious person. Laughter doesn’t come easily to me. As I go forward, I am enriching my life with humor. About five years ago, I started taking vitamins though I’m a late bloomer shall we say the dew is off the rose? My small silver, handheld, four-section pill box was no longer adequate. I was grief stricken. Only old people needed a two-week at a glance pill case, I thought. I was close to tears. The pharmacist came over to me and asked what the matter was and I said “Am I really this old now?”. She thought that was funny & with a smile said to me “Debbie your box will be mostly full of vitamins right? Well, lots of millennial buy this for the same reasons, supplements & vitamins.” So, since then, I have been focusing on growing a larger funny bone! “Dated Containers” refers to all of us and the boxes we live in & out off.

E: Tell us about The Hurricane.

Deborah: My third book The Hurricane, available at Prolific Press, used the structure of a hurricane as a metaphor for the way I storm my way through life. I am The HERicane, long-winded, tearful, powerful, often careless in my bluster, yet with a quiet, safe, and nurturing core. Most of my life now is lived figuratively in the eye.

E: Has your work in healing influenced your writing?

Deborah: I have studied so many healing modalities from the physical to the mental, from energy work to trigger-point therapy. My belief that body, mind & spirit are connected aids my writing. It’s why & how I was able to turn what for me was a negative, aging, into a humorous positive in verses such as “Dated Containers”. Trusting my intuition helps tremendously with stream of consciousness verse. On occasion I even channel. One of my personal favorites is a sestina I wrote channeling Van Gogh, “When Madness Rides on Moonlight”.

E: Themes of aging and confidence come through in your poem. What are your thoughts on the connection between those two things?

Deborah: Aging does not bring confidence, I’m sorry. I wish I could tell the readers it does. What brings confidence is conquering your fears & questioning your own morals. Confidence comes from challenging yourself, testing yourself out in the larger world, seeing if you can take a punch, seeing if needed you can give one. Ask yourself “Can I fight my corner?” If you aren’t sure of yourself & sure your responses are correct no one else will be.

E: How do you feel about plums?

Deborah: Well, plums are more juicy than prunes! There is still plenty plum left in me!

E: Any recent influential reads?

Deborah: Oh my, I read veraciously. I adore fantasy [since there doesn’t seem to be much new sci-fi out there/ if there is please let me know]! As you may have ascertained I’m a kick-ass broad so I eat up Patricia Briggs novels like popcorn.

E: If readers of Likely Red had to go read another lit mag or journal after reading this interview, what should it be?

Deborah: Twyckenham Notes – poetry & art | South Bend, Indian. 

E: What’s next for Deborah Guzzi?

Deborah: I’m am doing some editing and working on Chapbooks right now. Hopefully, I will continue adding to the verses for a new poetry collection which will highlight today’s aboriginal populations written mostly in haibun. I can be reached to get a copy of The Hurricane at aleezadelta@aol.com.