Spotlight On Writers
TM Arko
- Where, do you hail from?
I grew up in a small foothill community in Southern California called Monrovia. It was a small tight knit inter-racial community and I was a kid filled with wonder who just loved to wander the streets of my town. It definitely shaped my life and there were teachers who were close to me and encouraged my love of writing. In 1995 I moved with my family to a small farm town about 25 miles northeast of Seattle. It is called Snohomish and is an antique town with great old shops and a downtown area. It is surrounded by rivers, lakes, fields and forest. It has been a fantastic place to raise my two sons and is a beautiful place with all the beauty of seasons changing and wonderful creation and wildlife all around. Much of this is what inspires what I write about.
- What is the greatest thing about the place you call home?
Being a small community it is a friendly place. My sons are still friends in their adulthood with kids they went to kindergarten with. I like that tight close relationship of a small town. It is what I loved about my town in Southern California, the smallness and familiarity of the people and town.
- What turns you on creatively?
Music mostly. Especially Classic Rock and Folk and lately Jazz. Music just moves my soul and brings me incredible joy and peace. I love good lyrics and those can motivate me. Two of my favorite artists are Bob Dylan and George Harrison. Their songs give a balanced blend of social comment and spirituality which I am all about. Good books and poems as well. I like the old poets like John Keats, Edgar Alan Poe and Emily Dickinson.
- What is your favorite word, and can you use it in a poetic sentence?
Starlight.
The rain shimmered like pieces of starlight on my window.
- What is your pet peeve?
People who judge and blindly criticize what they don’t understand. Usually talk show host and politicians.
- What defines TM Arko?
Life to me is still a tremendous mystery. I am just trying to be content in the now. Regretting the past or worrying about the future just leads to madness. Even though I am still in process and incredibly flawed I hope that love would define me. Love is really all that matters.
- The Pain That Revisits - April 25, 2019
- On Atara Street - April 2, 2019
- What Vincent Would Paint - March 11, 2019
