“Poetry strips everything down to its essence,” says Louisville poet and radio host Sheri L. Wright. “With poetry, I can be deeply intense with an idea, polish it down, then move on. It’s like hopping across the stones of a creek. You pay very close attention to each step as you make your way. Each word counts.”
Wright has published one full-length book of poetry, “Nuns Shooting Guns,” and four chapbooks: “Sharks Never Sleep,” “Contains Scenes of Indigenous Nudity,” “Courtship of Reason,” and “The Slow Talk of Stones.” She has been published in numerous journals across the country, including Clarke Street Review, Earth’s Daughters, and Crucible. Her work has won awards from Green River Writers, Jesse Poets, and The Kentucky State Poetry Society, and she was recently nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Journey McAndrews, editor of The Single Hound, for her poem “The Tenants Of Central Park.”
Wright was born in Louisville and raised in Southern Indiana, Southern California and North Carolina. She chafed against small town life in Indiana. “I found that books, art and imagination were a way to escape ... I realized that I had to create a way out, although I had no idea where I would end up. This all taught me that the world is more than what is seen every day – that there are thousands of universes, unique to themselves, dotted into every conceivable space.”
Wright channeled her creativity into writing – first in song lyrics and then in her journals. She discovered free verse after joining Green River Writers. “Poetry is about life and all of its aspects, oftentimes the ones that make us uncomfortable or afraid to address, much less speak of out loud,” she says. “And many times, poetry does not conform. Cheers to that!”
Her poems observe nature, contemplate issues, and introduce quirky characters. Much of her work consists of persona poems, wherein the poet slips into the skin of another person. For example, Wright has penned poems about a theatre projectionist, a woman in a nursing home, a lady who soaks her false teeth in the toilet tank, men drumming around a campfire, a moon-shiner, and aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.
Wright’s characters are strong people; independent, smart, determined, they are survivors. Her language flows, her images ignite. She finds inspiration in the work of Ai Ogawa, Lynda Hull, Liesel Mueller, and local poets and authors such as Sonja de Vries, Sherry Chandler, Makalani Bandele, Matthew Haughton and Kim Michele Richardson.
After The Mines
By Sheri L. Wright
Briars stitch into the hills
where we once watched morning slip over
easy as a promise
made of mist rising through dawn.
And I think the earth has grown spined and calloused
saving itself against us
and I see the face of Hazel Mott who lives down the ridge,
a face that impales the eyes of any
who peer into her only softness left –
the memory of a son
who fell into the belly of the world
when the car snapped its cable
and they pulled out his bones in a sack
only to re-bury them
as if once was not enough,
that the earth wanted to suck out the marrow,
grind his skeleton to dust
between teeth of stone
seal the ghost of him
under dead words
spoken in a registered letter
the coal company sent –
a lapsed policy,
bounced check,
would she please pay the service charge
by September 1st.
We’re so sorry.
Wright encourages aspiring poets to join a writers’ group, have others critique their work, read a lot, use online resources, submit work for publication and develop a thick skin. “Be open to suggestions to help improve your craft. Don’t be married to your words. Date them instead,” she advises.
Signed copies of Wright’s books are available at www.scribblingsandsuch.com and at www.amazon.com. Readers can connect with the poet on Facebook at Scribblings and Such. Wright also hosts “From the Inkwell,” Saturdays at 1 p.m. on Crescent Hill Radio, 1650 AM and live-streamed at www.crescenthillradio.com.
Susan E. Lindsey is a freelance writer, a professional book editor and publicist, and owner of Savvy Communication LLC. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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