John G Evans was born in the East, grew in the North and South, and settled in the West. He became passionate for the written word in high school during 1969 to 1971. John did not encounter his poetic ear till 1998 when he began waking in the early morning hours to intuitive promptings to write what he was being shown through his dreams. Thus, he began to write, and write, and write. Evans feels as if pondering upon psychic trauma due to a child sexual abuse incident, which coalesced with a Military Sexual Trauma, fed his emotional instability with verbal textures in verse and rhyme. To John this later became a gift. So, he began to write of the trauma(s), in verse and rhyme. This led to the writing of his first poetic autobiography Vehemence: In Silence, We Weep.
John has published his second book, I AM: The Tiny Mustard See, a continuation of prose poetry and the included volume from Vehemence in one volume of approximately 208 pages. To sum the trials and sufferings of a young boy assaulted at five years of age, and then again at age seventeen while active duty in the military, goes beyond mere words. His life thus destroyed, John has endured these sufferings for over fifty years. He feels he began to regain control and begin to recover when he picked up his pen and began to write. And, this takes practice, and a lot of it!
So what kind of darkness ensues the human consciousness without delving within our psyches too deeply? Is it lust, avarice, covetousness, narcissism, or a thirst we cannot quench? Why do we thirst, even for the unexpected, and sometimes misunderstand ourselves? Or those who are different than ourselves? Can we always make the right decisions regarding our personal affluence with others? Why do we live with psychic wounds? Why is there violence in our world? Why do we, or others hurt us, and why must we continue this perpetual cycle of lashing out to others?
These are questions Evans has been searching for nearing forty years. Walk with John G Evans through his book I AM: The Tiny Mustard Seed, a kind of personal, reflective, poetic journal, and autobiography as he attempts to discover what makes John who he is. Embracing this excavation of mysterious psychic wounds, Evans writes his poetic autobiography on his own terms. After having his identity stripped from him at an early age, and during his stint in the military, John explores these esoteric memories that remain inside. As he delves into his depths he discovers many hidden secrets known by some, and unknown by others. He discovers dimensional realities that conquer his fears, and helps him become a new man of depth, substance, and generosity to others. And, this 208 - page testimony of pain, mystery, and joy becomes a remarkable journey of self – discovery born of a damaged perspective, even now, attempts to reclaim his youth. Join John G Evans in his quest of discovering himself, and the beautiful world that surrounds us all.
Evans plans to write a third book detailing his trials with a spinal cord injury first sustained in the military resulting in permanent nerve damage to his cervical spinal cord. The plot thickens as mysteries are unraveled throughout the details of his experiences as he writes from awakened memories. Evans has been forced to muster enough courage to attempt enjoying his life on a daily basis because of a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to MST, and the subsequent spinal cord injury. He views the world as a cold, dark, frightening place inhabited by a mass of savage spirits attacking him psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. He has struggled with paranoia, hypervigilance, suicidal ideation and attempts, and fear since age five.
John lives with faith, hope, and courage from day to day, and is recovering from the stigma of sexual assault, and violence. John G Evans lives happily with his wife Judy, and their Shih Tzu Paavo somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
“This debut volume affirms poetry's power to help individuals communicate their most painful psychic wounds...Compelling and stirring pieces that explore poetry's healing abilities.”
– Kirkus Reviews
BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
VEHEMENCE
BY John G. Evans • POSTED ON Feb. 8, 2017
This debut volume affirms poetry’s power to help individuals communicate their most painful psychic wounds.
The literary critic Geoffrey H. Hartman writes of poetry’s ability to “read the wound” of trauma. Verse, he suggests, can help people describe their deepest hurts when speech cannot. Likewise, the journalist David Finkel tells stories of veterans who use creative writing to work through the tragedies they endured in war. Evans has similar hopes for poetry, and early in his new collection, he recalls a time when “writing in generalized terms was therapeutic.” If he were to move past his own pain, the “imperative was to write. And, upon reflecting on the trauma(s), words overflowed from an esoteric place.” The result of that overflow is a slim, often potent gathering of verse that testifies to poetry’s capacity to heal. Sometimes Evans addresses his efforts to recover in very direct ways. Thus does he give readers “Waiting for my Therapist,” which explains the benefits of the psychiatric relationship: “You see, / I embrace this sacred space. / It never denies its truth, / The most intimate vulnerability / That lies in ruins as artifacts.” In this piece, therapy is an excavation of the soul, a digging up of broken secrets—or perhaps of the secrets that break individuals. But here also, Evans gets at one of the collection’s central themes: expressing pain is hard, and people often need help. So sometimes a counselor might aid them; at other times, writing can do the job. This insight drives another moving piece, “Too Many Voices, and yet, Not Enough!” This poem opens with “Have you felt / you had no voice? / Well, then, recall / an army of principles / and Paine’s recourse, / the genius of the pen! / … in this vista of meter— / I drew my pen. / And, I began to write.” Here, of course, is the poet’s hope for the traumatized—that the voiceless might be given voice.
Compelling and stirring pieces that explore poetry’s healing abilities.
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
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