Poetry Muse: Charlie Petch + Why I Was Late

Who is your muse?Being open to all that people are, is my muse. In this poetic offering, my muse is Mike Tyson.

Picture of Mike Tyson 

What inspired you when you started writing your poetry collection? And what is your creative process when you begin writing? I didn’t aim to have a collection really, as a spoken word/theatre artist I don’t usually envision my work statically on a page. I just kept adding to folders called “Manuscript (year)” and when a friend nudged me about where my collection was, I decided to see what I’d amassed at this point and found a full manuscript. I write most mornings, before the world seeps in, before the muses arrive, when I am at my most raw, open, and emotional. I believe writing is a muscle so my morning exercises include stretching, lifting weights and putting 26 letters together over and over again, in pleasing partnerships, and hoping they convey what I have in my head. When did you start writing poetry and why did you choose to write poetry over other forms of literature?I started writing stories when I was around 9 years old, but didn’t get into poetry really until I got a notebook at 16, and then the angst began ha ha. It really helped me to sort out my brain, though, being a trans person at that point of history, I felt there was a whole language I didn’t know, which was how I felt in my body. I think us non binary and trans people really have to do that extra searching, and that this is an art onto itself. I never stopped writing stories, novels or plays so I can’t claim to have held poetry up over all other forms of literature, but I do feel like poetry is the basis of all my other writing. How would you describe your poetry collection?Humourous, heartbreaking, transformative.What advice would you give to aspiring poets?Let yourself fail, let bad poems out of you so the great ones can find you. Believe that there is a little you in every audience, that needs to hear what you have to say. Are there any poets or poetry collections that you admire? I really loved Hasan Namir’s War Torn, I also really enjoyed his newest Umbilical Cord, there’s so much glorious queerness, joy and deep pain that informs each carefully chosen word. Does music inspire you when you start writing poetry? I absolutely love to write with music in the background. My upcoming spoken word theatre piece, “Daughter of Geppetto” was written while listening to Chopin’s nocturnes, as they were popular at the time of the original Pinocchio in 1880. The first poem in the 4 part show ended up lining up so perfectly with Chopin’s nocturne “Opus 9, No. 2,” that I have kept it in the show. At this point I really believe that because I listened to it so much in the creation of the work, I wove the poem around it.

Poem from Why I Was Late

My First Lisping HeroTo be performed with ukulele fingerpicking We called you champ.Mike Tyson when you and I open up our mouthsthey turn into bull’s eyesand we are silent in our defensebecause words can be landmines the first time I saw youunabashed unapologetic on themicrophoneyou became my first lisping hero I imagined us in my playground  bullies fleeing our earthquake footsteps I tried to duck and dance like a butterfly Alibefore you hit age thirteen.The boxing world plucked you from reform schoolmaybe you felt savedI know how education can seem like the enemyand for a boy targeted for hishigh-pitched lispy voiceyou probably felt relieved that the teacherwould never call on you again. Your lisp never got betteryour voice never droppedand let your dreams narrowBefore your mom diedshe gave you toyour boxing coachCus D’Amatowho polished you up like acustom autobut never could install any breaks There were no bells in the bedrooms you strode intono towels to be thrown in front of your thundering ways Raised to be a wild animalyou look calmest wrestling with your Bengal tigereven your friends say you belonged in a cage. But Mikeyou’re as used to betrayal as getting punched in the gutI mean the man who could have protected youleftwhen you were just two years old there are no “s” sounds in “Dad”you could have said it everydaywithout the worry of retributionInstead you shouted it into barrel chestsIt bounced back with the blank stares of menwho love youfor your fistsand the bags of money they bring Maybe what you neededwas a male embracenot cut short by a bell Now in the wake of Holyfield’s spat-out earyour empire crumblesyour four-year-old daughter diesyour other children look at you in fearand your beloved tigerpaces behind some stranger’s bars The television calls you a monsterspeaks of your failuresyour crimesyour legacy of violence MikeI like your new heavyweight fightthe one called Sobrietyas your daughter’s easy laughtermakes you championthe father who’s therethe father who came back I’ve written so many endingsto your poem   Mikesome were too kindothers damned youbut you grewin love and recovery Some humans are capable of so muchwhen we give them a chanceto get up off the mat 

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Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) is a disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist who resides in Tkaronto/Toronto. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer, and host, Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for SpeakNorth national festival, winner of the Golden Beret lifetime achievement in spoken word with The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it’s a Queer Slam. Petch is a touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator. They are launching “Daughter of Geppetto”, a multimedia/dance/music/performance poetry piece with Wind in the Leaves in April 2022 , launched their full length poetry collection Why I Was Late with Brick Books which got a “Best of  2021” from The Walrus, and filmed their libretto “Medusa’s Children” with Opera QTO.  They have been featured on CBC’s Q, the Toronto International Festival of Authors, and were longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. Find out more at www.charliecpetch.com

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