Please tell us a little about yourself and What We Hold No Longer.  

Looking back, I’ve had an interest in writing since adolescence. In my early twenties, I wrote my first poem (mercifully lost) when I became infatuated with a young woman in college. Unsurprisingly, it coincided with my discovery of D.H. Lawrence and the operas of Giacomo Puccini.  

I’ve always been an introvert with a deep current of spirituality—an inexplicable passion and gravitas disproportionate to my age. In my early 20s, I became an avid reader of psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm. I’ve attributed these traits to a dysfunctional family life, and summers isolated on a beautiful island in the Adirondack Mountains, where anxiety and loneliness melded with the sanctuary of nature. 

What made you want to write about your life?  

I took up poetry when I was about 35 years old, as an adjunct to my psychotherapy and dream interpretation. However, I only dabbled in poetry for decades afterward. I entered graduate school at 36 and [started] a new career in research at 40, where I professionalized my writing skills in medical literature. It wasn’t until an existential crisis at 66 that I became a poet. On Memorial Day 2023, after months of brewing turmoil, I was drawn once again into that deep current where poems emerged spontaneously over several months. During that period I also revised many older poems [I’d] sporadically written since the 1990s. That led to my first book, The False God’s Lullaby [from 2023]. 

To answer you more directly, my inner life has been an enigma. Trying to understand and reconcile conflictions is modern poetry’s fertile ground. I write primarily to understand and soothe myself. There’s a saying: “The more truthful and personal you can be as a writer, the more universal your appeal.” That has always been my guide.  

What was your editing process like? 

Unless a poem comes from an inexplicable deep urge, [like] when suddenly, I’m merely taking dictation, I don’t submit poems for around 6 months. I love editing and refining my thoughts and words. It’s a creative game of balancing lyricism, rhythm, imagery, clarity, and withholding (i.e., trusting the reader to fill the void). Very important to me is the “So what?” factor for the reader. There has to be at least a memorable phrase or stanza that “carries the weight” of the poem. That makes the poem worth reading. 

What are you working on after What We Hold No Longer? 

I’m writing a collection of new poems under the title Ceylon Moon (https://aarongedaliah.com). My friend, the acclaimed artist Martha Diaz, is developing the cover art. The projected publication date is autumn 2026. 

Portions of this Q&A were edited for clarity.