SPOTLIGHT ON POETS PRESENTS...

An Interview with Diane King




Q. What is your worst life experience?

A. Being sexually abused by my father from the time I was an infant until I was about 10 years old has to be by far the worst and most enduring pain that has happened in my life. Most people would never realize that anything like that has happened to me. Incest survivors don't get capitol I's tattooed to their foreheads. We are so ordinary.


Q. What is your strongest sense?

A. Sound. I can hear humming birds when they fly past my balcony with their pinging chirps, my cats as their feet lightly touch the carpet, the distant rumble of a violent thunderstorm. Music is a very big influence on my poetry. Sometimes just the rhythm of a song can get my brain to flow with new words and ideas.


Q. What do you like best about yourself?

A. That I never give up hope.


Q. Tell me about your best friend.

A. I've never had a best friend or any close friends. My family moved so often; with that added to the abuse I endured, I didn't learn the art of making and keeping long term relationships until recently.


Q. What is your most prized possession?

A. My 4 cats, if it's possible to own them.


Q. What would you define as the most terrifying moment of your life?

A. Until I had to have surgery a couple of years ago, I never really felt afraid of anything, or maybe I never admitted being afraid of anything. This was the 1st time I'd ever had surgery in my life and I had no idea what to expect. As I waited, I was so afraid that I could hardly think or speak. The movie Coma and all the years of watching Days of Our Lives were taking their toll on me. No one in a soap opera ever just checked into a hospital and then left without incident. Would I be one of the lucky ones? I was shaking all over. Then the anesthesiologist gave me a shot and all was wonderful.


Q. If you could go back and relive a year of your life, which year would it be?

A. I would go back to winter 96-97 and get myself to a doctor earlier than I went. When I 1st found the lump in my breast, I, who thought she had come so far, fell into my old ways of thinking - that cancer was a really easy way to kill myself.


Q. What is your proudest accomplishment?

A. Getting my college degree. It was always an important goal and even now, so many years later, I look back at my life and am amazed that I did that.


Q. Do you remember writing your first poem?

A. Yes. I was in 4th grade and each of us had to copy a poem out of a book for some useless assignment. My poem was about a moth and a caterpillar. I remember the pictures in the book to this day; however, for some reason I only wrote down a couple of lines and then couldn't find the book when I realized I didn't have the entire poem. As it got closer to class time, I panicked and thought about looking for another poem, but there wasn't time. So, I added my own lines, about 5 or 6 more and hoped no one would notice. When it came time to read the poem in class, I was so nervous and thought that everyone would know it wasn't a "professional" poem. No one noticed. In fact they loved it and asked me where I got it. Today I don't know what is worse - that I lied to my teacher and classmates or that the first 2 lines of my first poetic effort were plagiarized.


Q. Whose poetry do you like to read?

A. Every now & then I glance at my old anthologies from college. My favorites poets are Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost and Chaucer. I also like to surf the poetry & writing web rings just to see what all is out there. People ask me to read their poems and tell them if they are any good. I know what I like, but I don't know what's good.


Q. If you had 3 free hours in the middle of the afternoon, how would you spend them?

A. Not doing what I should be doing.




About Diane King
Diane's Poetry