• Home
  • Poetry Prompts
  • The Writing Life
  • Daily Poem-Subscribe!
  • Teaching Tools
  • The Press
  • Just for Patrons

Journey into Poetry: Dave Malone

By Dave Malone 3 Comments

Dex Westrum Dave Malone Poetry tweetspeakpoetry.com
Get me at a cocktail party. Get me talking about writing poetry. Get me talking about what made the difference.

Just a phone call.

In the spring of 1992—now, twenty years ago.

“What are you doin’, Malone?” in North Dakota vowels from the old Scandinavians, the voice of my undergrad mentor, Dex Westrum.

“Oh, ” I said, then answered. I trailed the long phone line out to the sprawling porch of an old Victorian in seedy, downtown Albuquerque.

“That’s bull shit. You need to get your ass out of there. You’re going to apply to Indiana State for graduate school. There’s a poet, Matt Brennan, you need to study with.”

Spring had already lifted the snowcaps from the Sandias.

“Dex, it’s already April.”

“Malone, ” he started. It wasn’t long before I dragged the phone cord back through the screen door, past the paws of my roommate’s cat and the stench of beer and enchiladas in the kitchen, and into its cradle.

With his PhD education, couldn’t Dex intuit my grand, poetic life? I was metropolitan. I lived with two girls. I drank jugs of wine with my buddy James, listened to Tom Waits, and wrote necessary, dark, nihilistic, existential poems. And I had proof. A smattering of them had been published in several not-so-terribly-awful literary mags.

In the cockroach-infested Victorian, beneath the giant transplanted oaks that shaded our lawn, and below those mountains and inside that city of light, I couldn’t shake Dex’s words.

In July, I sold my reliable, white Toyota Tercel, packed up an ugly yellow Ryder truck with a bike for transport at school, and I drove two days to Terre Haute, Indiana.

The last week of August, a fellow grad student held a party for the burgeoning new class of TAs, nearly thirty of us, representing the halcyon days of English graduate study at ISU. The classy brunette gal from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan snapped a photo of me. I wear what I did in Albuquerque: white T-shirt, blue jeans, and big black boots. Instead of red wine, I hold a glass of white. From behind my looming 50’s style eyeglasses, I stare off-camera. A slight smile.

The young man can’t know what I know. That he toasts a crossroads. And cheers a wake.

Photo of Dex Westrum, 1988. Post by Dave Malone, author of Under the Sycamore.

___________

Buy a year of Every Day Poems, just $5.99— Read a poem a day, become a better poet. In April we’re exploring the theme Candy.

EDP Immolation

You Might Also Like

  • Thorns Poetry Writing tweetspeakpoetry.comJourney into Poetry: Megan Willome
  • Curious Cat Poetry Journey Anne Doe Overstreet tweetspeakpoetry.comJourney into Poetry: Anne M. Doe Overstreet
  • Journey into Poetry: Dave HarrityJourney into Poetry: Dave Harrity
  • Journey into Poetry: Zack SaloomJourney into Poetry: Zack Saloom
  • About
  • Latest Posts

Dave Malone

Latest posts by Dave Malone (see all)

  • From the Poet: Blue of the Heaps of Beads - November 29, 2018
  • “Tiny Machine,” by Dave Malone - October 30, 2015
  • The Sacred Tree - August 28, 2012

Filed Under: journey into poetry, poetry, poetry teaching resources, writer's group resources

P.S., with love

We hope you found something inspiring here today.

Why not keep it going—for you, and the world?

Plus, you'll get access to our totally cool book clubs!

Comments

  1. L.L. Barkat says

    April 2, 2012 at 9:12 am

    I love that he saw this in you and said so. I love that you responded.

    Necessary poems. I like that phrase. Are your poems still necessary, do you think? 🙂

    Reply
  2. Dave Malone says

    April 3, 2012 at 12:49 am

    Thanks, Laura. Indeed, I was lucky that Dex saw then (and always has) that potential in me. Don’t we need to surround ourselves with those kind of folks? 🙂

    Ha! Necessary today? Nah. Like Alan Watts, my goal is to entertain . . . unnecessarily. 🙂

    Reply
  3. L. L. Barkat says

    April 3, 2012 at 10:09 am

    I think your poems might still be necessary. If only for you. (Of course, others might say the poems are necessary for *them.* 😉

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

Free with tweet

Many of Our Dedicated Readers Become Patrons—How About You?

Welcome all the patron-only goodness, when you become a part of a place that brings joy to your world.

Follow Tweetspeak Poetry

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our December Menu.

Recent Comments

  • Bethany on Adjustments Book Club: Homecomings
  • Will Willingham on Adjustments Book Club: Homecomings
  • Will Willingham on Adjustments Book Club: Homecomings
  • Richard Maxson on Adjustments Book Club: Homecomings

A Novel for Our Time

Thoughtful and hilarious, both.

A novel for our time.

If You Want to Partner With Us in a Simple Way

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The New York Observer

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

Tumblr Book News

Categories

The Inaugural Poet Laura!

Poetry for Life? Here's our manifesto on the matter...

Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches

Help make it happen. Post The 5 Vital Approaches on your site!

Learn to Write Form Poems

Whether or not you end up enjoying the form poem, we've seen the value of building your skills through writing in form.

One reader who explored the villanelle was even featured in Every Day Poems!

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

Featured Literary Analysis

Poem Analysis: Anne Sexton's Her Kind

Poem Analysis: Adrienne Rich's Diving into the Wreck

Poem Analysis: Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Order and Disorder in Macbeth

Tone in For Whom the Bell Tolls and Catch-22

Tragedy and Comedy: Why People Love Them

Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

Book Promotion, Platform, Publicity

Author Platform: Where to Start

Ten Surprising Secrets to Make Your Book Go Viral

How to Host a Successful Book Launch

Simple Tips on Finding and Working with a Book Publicist

How to Get Your Poems Published!

Pride and Prejudice Resources

5 Amusing Pride and Prejudice Quotes

Infographic: Simpleton's Guide to Pride and Prejudice

10 Great Pride and Prejudice Resources

Happy Birthday Mr. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Playlist

Featured Top 10 Poems

Top 10 Chicken Poems

Top 10 Chocolate Poems (Okay, Minus 3)

Top 10 Fairy Tale Poems

Top 10 Funny Poems

Top 10 Laundry Poems

10 of the Best Love Poems

Top 10 Poems with Make or Break Titles

Top 10 Mirror Poems

Top 10 Question Poems

Top 10 Red Poems

Top 10 Rose Poems

Top 10 Summer Poems

10 Great Poems About Work

Children’s Poems, Children’s Books

Llamas in Pajamas and Ten Great Children's Poetry Books

A Children's Poem on the Playground

Come Again: Teaching Poetry to Children

Poetry With Children: What's in Your Journal

Teaching Poetry to Children: There Are So Many Blues

Take Your Poet to Work Day: Poet Treasure Hunt in the Library (Callie's Story)

6 Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Children

Top 10 Children's Books and YA Books

Little Red Riding Hood: Graphic Novel

14 Reasons Peter Rabbit Should Be Banned (Satire)

Featured Infographics

Infographic: How to Write an Acrostic Poem

Infographic: How to Write a Ballad

Infographic: How to Write an Epic Poem

Infographic: Ghazal for a Gazelle

Infographic: Boost Your Haiku High Q

Infographic: Pantoum of the Opera

Infographic: How to Write an Ode

Infographic: Poem a Day

Infographic: How to Write a Rondeau

Infographic: Simpleton's Guide to Pride and Prejudice

Sonnet Infographic: Quatrain Wreck

Featured Playlists

Playlist: Cat's Meow

Playlist: Doors and Passageways

Playlist: Fairy Tale and Fantasy

Playlist: Purple Rain and Indigo Blues

Playlist: Surrealism

Playlist: Best Tattoo Songs

Playlist: Trains and Tracks

All the Playlists

They Bring Poetry for Life

Meet our wonderful partners, who bring "poetry for life" to students, teachers, librarians, businesses, employees—to all sorts of people, across the world.

About Us

  • Our Story
  • Meet Our Team
  • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • Contact Us

Writing With Us

  • Poetry Prompts
  • Submissions
  • Writing Workshops

Reading With Us

  • Book Club
  • Dip Into Poetry
  • Every Day Poems
  • Literacy Extras
  • Moms on Poetry
  • Poets and Poems
  • Quote a Day
  • VerseWrights Journal

Public Days for Poetry

  • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • Poetic Earth Month
  • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • Poetry at Work Day
  • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • Take Your Poet to School Week—National Poetry Month!
  • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • Give the Gift of Every Day Poems
  • Our Shop
  • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • If You’d Like to Easily Partner With Us—Donate
  • Blog Buttons
  • Put a Poem in Your Heart, Or a Story in Your Soul
  • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2019 Tweetspeak Poetry · Site by The Willingham Enterprise · FAQ & Disclosure

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkRead more