In Conversation with Teri Ellen Cross Davis

What's the significance for you of publishing your new book of poetry, a more perfect Union, at a time when our nation is experiencing the BLM movement, the pandemic, and fallout from the assault on the Capitol? 

I feel as if the current circumstances—the Black Lives Matter movement, the insurrectionist coup, and even the pandemic—how so many willfully ignored the science to the detriment of thousands of American lives—taps into the fear, anger, fury, and hope that threads through a more perfect Union. 

I have wanted something better for this country for a long time, a country that acknowledged those of us on the margins, those of us who have less but need more. I also just got to a point where I was fed up with racism and this country’s addiction to white supremacy—just tired of the psychic wounding of it, on me and on my family. 

After years of following politics, working in it, and re-reading the Constitution (because I knew I wanted to be in poetic conversation with this important document) and after years of talking with my elders, I realized this country talks a good game about democracy and human rights but has not delivered upon those things for and to all of its citizens. Isn’t it about time America grew up and became that more perfect Union?

 I began writing these poems as soon as my first book was published. My children were growing and entering the world more and more and my anxiety about their safety and how the world would treat them was increasing too. Once I weaned my youngest child, I had more time to attend residences and workshops. I basically had more time to write, which was really key. It was like I had been unleashed. With one book under my belt, I felt more confident and curious about poetry and was eager to explore more topics and forms. I also was growing and integrating roles, as mother, wife, poet, and poetry coordinator. I felt as if there was a confidence within me and that I could indeed claim myself a poet.

How have you been able to balance your writing life with your parenting life?

Balancing poetry and parenting would be a lot harder if my partner, husband Hayes Davis, were not a poet. Having someone who understands the look one gets when working on a poem, who will drop everything to listen to a poem being read aloud, and someone who is excited and knowledgeable about the field makes all the difference. It also helps that we have brought up our children to have a healthy appreciation if not love of poetry. They have attended many readings and have learned to either sit quietly and listen to the work or amuse themselves enough not to be a distraction. But the key thing for me is, my children see me doing something that means a lot to me, something I am passionate about and I want them to recognize that they too can follow their heart and make what they love work for them 

Where and how have you found deep beauty during the past year? 

I have found deep beauty in watching my children grow. At ages 10 and 12, every few months someone else has grown another inch or inches in my daughter’s case, and I just find this process amazing as the distance between them and infancy widens. 

I have found deep beauty in my husband’s pride and love. A long time ago we realized when one of us does well, both of us benefit. He has been such an incredible cheerleader for me and my work and me for his work. I have found my friendships deepening and blossoming—giving me joy, love, and a sense of comradery. Everyday I wake up, there is something to celebrate, something of deep beauty which surprises me and keeps me going.