Jefferson interviewed poet and translator Miho Nonaka about prose poems for the fall 2023 issue of The Cafe Review.
“Perhaps we have this tacit expectation that a proper poem must arrive at some form of insight or even transcendence. That is a lot of pressure. You shouldn’t worry whether your poem is going to take off or not when you first start drafting. Poetic ambition can be deadly in the beginning stage of creation. The prose poem is a great entrance into writing, because its down–to–earth, even unpoetic appearance takes some of the pressure off and makes us start playing with words right there and then. We can stay our quotidian selves and still be ecstatic. And who knows, one day, we might find ourselves flying, one way or another.” — Miho Nonaka
