Clockwise starting at top left: Neill’s Brigade Marker-The Lost Avenue, Poet Zichuan presents a calligrpahy by Cai Maoliang to Rodger Martin, Thoor Ballylee, May 16, May, 2026 Credit L. Warren, The Anchor Poem at SUIBE credit Wang Gaunglin, Rodger Martin, Poetry Born of Music, Sunapee Harbor 4-10-15
What themes or messages do you hope readers take away from your books?
Because I write mostly poetry, I seldom consider theme. I write the poem that is coursing through my body at that moment. It is only later (often years later), as I look back on the collection of poems, I may have written that I begin to see themes that point to something larger. For example, I did not realize there were full moons in a lot of my poems until years after I wrote the poems and out of that came my chapbook The Blue Moon Series. I realized only a few years ago that dogs played a prominent role in my poetry, hence The Sleeping Dogs of Lubec.
What is the oddest piece of research you’ve done for a book?
Researching the 335 year declared war between The Netherlands and The Isles of Scilly (An archipelago 30 miles west of Lands End). In the 1660s a Dutch Admiral thought the islands good for Holland so tried to force a surrender. Scillonians rejected that, when he couldn’t land his fleet because of rocks, he declared war and sailed back to Amsterdam. The admiral was killed in battle shortly afterward. His declaration of war filed with his papers, then forgotten by all except the Scillonians who for three centuries reminded visitors they were still at war with the Dutch. Finally someone checked Dutch archives in the 1990s, found the document―indeed Holland was still legally at war with The Scillys. A formal peace, signed and executed by the Dutch Ambassador in 1995, decorates the wall of Scilly Council Chambers.
How important is rhythm or sound when you write poetry?
I think of rhythm as the current, and your poem a boat on that current. Without it, you go nowhere. Sound is part of that rhythm, but it is also all the echoes that boat encounters on its journey.
Do you read your poetry aloud while editing it?
Yes, poems are made to both spoken and read—with the reading an invitation to speak them. The speaking besides engaging the ear, also engages the touch of the lips and taste of the tongue—very powerful senses.
Do you perform or read your poetry publicly?
Yes.
How does hearing your work read aloud change the experience?
Reading a poem usually engages the eye and touch. Speaking a poem engages the ear, the eye, touch and taste.
Visit Rodger Martin’s page at https://nhauthors.com/rodger-martin/