David Perkins graduated from Colorado Mesa University (CMU) in 1968. At the time, it was Mesa State College. Since then, his life has been filled with love, heartbreak, loss, adventure, good times and bad times. Before he was a CMU student, Perkins was a writer. Even after graduating, he still writes. On April 2n his book, “I May Or May Not Love You” will be published. This book is a collection of the poems he’s written, poems that he holds near and dear to his heart.
“I never thought of writing a book, per se. It’s all I can do to think about just getting through a poem. The thought of a stretch of words going on and on for pages and pages is terrifying. I’ve attempted a couple of novels, but the energy that goes into that overwhelms me,” Perkins said. “The process of doing IMOMNLY was years in the works. In my case it was a lot of compiling, of editing, of rewriting, of sharing them with others and listening to their reactions, deciding which should live and which should die.”
Perkins once owned two bookstores in Denver, and started in the industry shortly after graduating from Mesa State College. Perkins has also been awarded the Anne Woodbury Hafen award from the Poetry Society of Colorado. He had a career in publishing for quite some time, working for the Oxford University Press, the University of Illinois Press and the University of Georgetown Press among others.
Perkins’ journey of creating “I May or May Not Love You” began when he was contacted by one of his close friends from the publishing industry, Bruce Miller. Miller encouraged Perkins to create a manuscript, saying that he would personally work on finding publishers. Perkins initially thought nothing would happen.
“I started going through my piles and files and folders and did and sent it off to him. I thought that would be the end of it, but within three months he found a publisher. No one could have been more amazed than I was,” Perkins said.
Perkins said that his family was, and has always been, a big inspiration for him and his writing. He recalls sitting on his front porch and reading poetry with his mother, who was a professional artist, sculptor and painter.
“I think learning from her is that what they are is using the magic of words, along with their meanings and their music, to try and paint a picture of ideas and feelings,” Perkins said. “You try to find the best possible words you can and try to put them in the best possible order to create a landscape of your thoughts and feelings and hope that others will recognize those and find themselves in the same place as you did when assembling them.”
“I May or May Not Love You” will be released on April 2, the day of Perkins’ late sister’s birthday, who was involved in the Peace Corps and ended up passing away due to a severe allergic reaction in Nepal. A few of his poems are dedicated to her. Perkins said that another one of the biggest hardships he’s had to face was the passing of his father last August.
“My mother and my younger sister and brother are gone now as well, so none of my family are here to greet [the book],” Perkins said.
Even though he’s dealt with a lot of pain and heartache, as demonstrated through many of his poems, Perkins stays strong through the struggles of life. He indicated that writing helps him navigate these struggles and that writing about love specifically has helped him through life.
“It’s the unstoppable force and the immovable object. It’s science and history and religion, matter and anti-matter, it’s what holds us together and takes us apart. No writer can resist that subject,” Perkins said.
The book will be available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and anywhere else books are sold. However, Perkins wants to encourage buyers to go through their local bookstore or directly through the publisher. The publisher for “I May or May Not Love You” is Ice Cube Press.
“I prefer people get it from their local bookstore as I once owned two bookstores myself in Denver, or direct from the publisher,” Perkins said. “The publisher always takes the greatest risk—particularly with poetry, and ordering direct from the publisher means more money in the publishers’ hands to spend on taking publication risks, like publishing poetry.”
Perkins said that he wants to encourage younger writers to take risks and immerse themselves in their writing, because “life is too short” to do otherwise. He said that even though writers might deal with a lot of rejection, they shouldn’t shy away from writing.
“Do it. Read, read, read, and then write and then write some more; listen to others, but more importantly listen to yourself. And if it’s what you want to do, don’t do as I did and put it off in pursuit of some tenuous idea of financial security and some other kind of career,” Perkins said.
