Ian Chandler: Poet Interview

Here’s the next Top 25 poet from the 2013 April PAD Challenge (the November Challenge sort of knocked me off track): Ian Chandler. Ian’s poem “and your hands shook” is…

Here's the next Top 25 poet from the 2013 April PAD Challenge (the November Challenge sort of knocked me off track): Ian Chandler. Ian's poem "and your hands shook" is compact and packs a punch.

Ian Chandler

Ian is currently attending Malone University with a double major in creative writing and philosophy. He loves to read, write, play music, and perform magic. His poems have been published in A Celebration of Young Poets anthology and a short story of his was published by The Nerve. He also reviews albums for Surviving the Golden Age. Learn more at his blog: http://ianchandler.wordpress.com.

Here's his Top 25 poem:

and your hands shook, by Ian Chandler

when I gave you a diamond ring
found in the ashes
and you wept when I said, "It's all that was left"
remembering your bedroom
their bedroom
a glimpse into when they promised each other
each other.
and your hands shook like flowers.

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Where are you located?

Canton, Ohio.

Who are your favorite poets?

e.e. cummings, Billy Collins, Frank O'Hara, John Donne, and an assortment of others.

As a reader, what do you like most in poems?

I like mellifluous language, phrases that stick around in the mouth sweetly. Images play a big role for me. If a poem has a great image, I'll love it. Words that paint are the best kinds of words. Description and scene are important.

What were your goals for the 2013 April PAD Challenge?

I wanted to take my poetry to the next level and produce a good amount of raw material I could later develop. It was a lighter version of NaNoWriMo for me, a way to keep myself in a writing routine and accustom myself to that attitude.

What's next for you?

I recently started a blog and have good feelings about it. I'm starting to revise more poems and focus on some short fiction pieces. Who knows where the Imagination will direct me.

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Where will your imagination take you?

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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer's Digest Writing Community and a person who usually writes very short poems. However, he reached a stopping point on a seven-pager this week (woo-hoo!). He's the author of Solving the World's Problems, which contains no poems that go beyond two pages. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.

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Check out more poetic posts here:

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of Solving the World's Problems, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.