Jeramy Dodds interviewed in CV2

Jeramy Dodds (Crabwise to the Hounds) was interviewed in the Fall 2009 issue of CV2:

'Clarise Foster: Crabwise to the Hounds is a phenomenal collection of writing, with eclectic imagery, odd yet fascinating historical references and the gut punch surprise of unexpected revelation — it is quite a package. For instance, in “Second Glance at Corrag,” the dog comes into the reader’s view looking “like a reconstructed grenade,” and from there the poem becomes this fantastic creature unraveled in relentless detail that is like no dog I have ever seen, but so cur-like — familiar — in nature and presence. It is almost magic what you do. But how or where might a poem like this begin?

Jeramy Dodds: Corrag was an Alsatian that I cared for during a two-year stint as a sentry/grounds-keeper/militaristic flaneur on a large estate in Southern Ontario. I had always wanted to write about him, but it took me a long time to chisel out the blueprints for this poem. This type of ode has been done a trillion times over, so I wanted the metaphors to reveal my emotions regarding this grand animal and not just reiterate stock animals-as-allegories or god-I-miss-my-pet-type strophes. The descriptors and metaphors may seem a little disjunctive because I’ve attempted to remove myself from the picture, but, of course, in that I’m giving Corrag a supernatural presence, I hope to indirectly communicate my feelings about him. I’m aware of the dangers of the maieutic or indirect communication to which metaphor can subscribe, but sometimes, if you play along, and trust the writer, the communication between writer and reader can move much more succinctly. Of course, this fails regularly, but that is the most joyous part, the gamble. I don’t know if the poem turned out, but I did everything I could.'

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