In honor of National Poetry Month (you are celebrating, aren’t you?), it is my pleasure to have John Davis, Jr. as my guest on Southern Creatives.

Would you classify yourself as a Southern poet? Why or why not?

I would classify myself as a Southern poet, largely because so much of my poetry comes from or is influenced by The South. Also, much of my work has been carried by publications in the southeast (Deep South magazine, Real South magazine, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, etc.). The images, idioms, and allusions in my poetry could also be considered Southern in many cases, though many are universal.

What is your process of writing a poem?

This depends on the inspiration. If I have a first line that strikes me, I start there and begin to explore it through a first draft. However, if a new comparison or analogy comes…