Smear the Psyche Across It

In Smear the Psyche Across It, MT Waite shares pieces of awareness pulled from areas in between, underneath, and at the edges of a cluttered life. He focuses on these moment's revelations that appear so fleetingly but leave impressions that never completely go away. And rather than wonder why they linger or struggle to force them behind all the necessary, everyday noise, Waite creates a place for them in his poetry.

He's said, "I've always wondered why certain ideas and feelings popped up when they did. I've always kind of suspected I should pay attention to them rather than just follow along with whatever's expected of me by the world or whatever else happens to be in my face, be that human, mechanical, viral, or whatever. I just always felt robbed and angry when I'd catch myself not paying attention to what's going on in my own head, no matter where it takes me."

And Waite's poetry can run the gamut from personal to political, from hauntingly spiritual to grittily physical. According to him, we spend too much time dreaming just to pass our time, not enough time dreaming in order to get the most out of our time. Somewhere in between the constant daydreaming that makes daily life livable and those distant dreams of that life we might enjoy "someday" but not now, the poet helps us uncover, explore, and appreciate our most important dreams.