In this P.O.P video, Willie Perdomo reads Marcos Rodríguez Frese's poem "Vital Poetics" and his own poem "Where to Start," which begins, "You could always start with the used-to of things. At first, the sky begs for attitude. Someone to talk thunder."
When asked his reasons for writing poetry, Perdomo says, “Writing poetry has always been a way to combat the times I’ve been silenced.” He compares writing to walking on a rooftop ledge—"that sense of being courageous, of being at risk as well."
Produced by poet and photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths, P.O.P (“Poets on Poetry”) is a video series featuring contemporary American poets reading both an original poem and a poem by another poet. Each poet then reflects on these poems and answers a question provided by a previous participant in the series. What results is an evolving, multifaceted conversation among poets about the art form. The Academy of American Poets has partnered with Griffiths to release the P.O.P video series on Poets.org, alongside Rachel Eliza Griffiths’s essay on the project: "Poets on Poetry: A Virtual Village of Discovery and Poetics.”
The P.O.P video series is curated and produced by Rachel Eliza Griffiths in partnership with the Academy of American Poets. Copyright © 2016 by Rachel Eliza Griffiths.