Nothing reserved about this poet

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, November 2, 2005

John Davis, Ben Packard will read.

Most students in John Davis’ creative writing class probably don’t know just how creative he is.

By day, Davis teaches English, creative writing and film study at North Kitsap High School, injecting humor and wisdom into his daily lesson plans.

Sometimes he’ll drop a casual reference to his “other life” – living on Bainbridge with his wife and two young children, rock ’n roll and poetry.

This never ceases to amaze his students.

“The idea that a teacher would play rock ’n roll and write a book is unbelievable,” said Davis, rhythm guitarist and harmonica player/singer in the local band Never Been To Utah. Now in its 19th year, the band consists of five of its original six members, all of whom are teachers.

Davis is also the author of “The Reservist,” a book of poems inspired by his time in the Coast Guard Reserve in the 1970s – five months of active duty and one weekend a month for the bulk of six years. He will read from this, his first published volume of poetry, this Sunday at Eagle Harbor Books.

A couple of years ago, Davis wrote a poem about the Coast Guard, and then another and another. He followed that vein and kept going with it.

“Over a couple of months I wrote the bulk of the poems,” he said. “Good art really reflects what’s going on, it’s a reflection of the people. I was surprised that I kept writing one after another.”

After completing his freshman year of college, Davis had a low draft number, so he enlisted in the reserve to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam. His six-year hitch gave Davis pause on several fronts: how different things in our lives shape us; what would have happened if we made different choices.

“It made me recognize more of the great opportunities open to me through education and to take it as far as I could,” he said. “I did return to college and probably took it more seriously – the many, many opportunities.”

Davis earned a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Washington in 1991. He has been a teacher for 25 years.

“The Reservist” features 21 poems divided into three sections dated 1972, 1972-78 and 2003.

“Basically, it’s a reflection back on these (Coast Guard) experiences,” says Davis, who describes boot camp, what it was like serving his country one weekend a month, his return to civilian life and his thoughts on Iraq. There is humor, cynicism and frank language in Davis’ writing.

“I would say it’s in a language that is reflective of my experience…in describing the relationships I make with individuals as well as community as well as society,” he said.

Davis estimates he has written 240 poems over the years, and maybe one-third of them have been published. In trying to sell “The Reservist,” he endured 155 rejection slips before finding Pudding House Publications in Columbus, Ohio.

Davis grew up in Seattle, spending summers on Bainbridge when he was a kid. He moved here in 1980.

“I remember when T&C was built,” he said. “I remember when (Eagle Harbor Books) started up near the Streamliner Diner. People say, ‘Oh, you’re really that old?’”

Because writing can be “a very lonely thing,” Davis is a member of a poetry group. For five years, he has traded poems with a fellow writer in Kingston, Kelli Agodon.

“Kelli and I don’t critique one another very much. Instead, we bounce (poems) off each other,” Davis said. “We have borrowed, traded and stolen lines back and forth. It keeps things moving…and some things poets only find humorous.”

Davis writes when he can. As time permits, he writes late in the evening and on weekends. One of his poems was selected to hang on a banner in the ferry terminal; others were chosen for display by city-sponsored programs, on the sidewalk by the library and at the pool.

Bainbridge has a poetry community that has been around quite awhile, said Davis, who has given a number of readings here over the years.

The poems Davis teaches have left an indelible mark on many of his students, some of whom are serving or have served in the military.

One young man told him that while on watch in the Persian Gulf, all he had with him were the poems Davis made him memorize in creative writing class. Another soldier stationed in Kuwait said he carried a poem he learned in Davis’ class in his wallet. One day a Kuwaiti kid came along and stole it. This is the strength of poetry, Davis said.

“For me as a writer, if a few days go by and I don’t write, it’s as though I’ve forgotten to wake up,” Davis said. “It helps me make sense of the day-to-day.”

Student poet

Western Washington University freshman Ben Packard, who shares the upcoming poetry reading bill with Davis, concurs.

“Writing really helps me relax and think about my life, how I’m feeling, how my day went,” Packard said. “It’s kind of like meditating almost.”

Packard will read from his self-published volume, “A Peacock Heart,” which features poetry and photography. He originally put together the books as farewell gifts for friends going off to college.

“I was curious to see if I put a couple of copies at Eagle Harbor Books, what would happen,” he said.

Last year as a senior, Packard was editor of The Rock, the Bainbridge High School literary magazine. The student-run publication is a collection of poetry, photography and short stories.

“This last year was the best year I ever had,” he said. “Everyone was really committed and really enjoyed working together and reading together.”

The experience “helps everybody involved become a better writer. After three years on the staff, I really improved as a writer,” Packard said.

His book includes two poems that were published in The Rock. The title of his book comes from the poem “Like Love and a Cup of Hot Chocolate.”

“It’s about a friend of mine who passed away last year,” Packard said. “It’s my favorite line in the whole book.”

Packard describes his poems thusly: “Some are real-life events. Some are kind of like dream images that really struck me. One is a more political poem about the genocide in Sudan that has been happening since 2003. Some are little thoughts that I have had that turned into poems.”

Packard, too, knows that poets don’t make much money from their works, yet he remains a steadfast writer.

“You do it because you love it,” he said.

* * * * *

Poets’ corner

In conjunction with the Bainbridge Island Arts Walk, local poets John Davis and Ben Packard will present some of their works at 3 p.m. Nov. 6 at Eagle Harbor Books. Joining them will be Ronda Broatch, an award-winning poet from Kingston. Question-and-answer sessions and book signings will follow.

Packard’s self-published book of poems and photography, “A Peacock Heart,” is $10. Davis’ book “The Reservist” is $8.95 (Pudding House Publications). Broatch will read from “Some Other Eden” ($14, Finishing Line Press). All three chapbooks are available at Eagle Harbor Books. For information call 842-5332.