“Facit Indigantio Versum.”
-–Juvenal
“Esse Quam Videri.”
-–NC State Motto
Whether your favorite tool is a fencing foil, an ink pen, or just a plain old penis, you'll immediately recognize and appreciate the struggles in the poems of T. O. Davis. He writes of the grueling frustrations of human sexuality, exploring heartbreak and drama along with sheer lust and the desire to dominate. He reminds us all of what we dislike to admit: that the person on top is never in charge.
T. O. says, "My poetry goes back to the birth of my son, Aidan. It was 2000 in the early spring of eastern Kansas along the Missouri River, with the boiling humidity that interchanges between Missouri and Kansas across a little blue bridge in the town of Leavenworth. I was there, stationed by the U.S. Army as a prison guard. My son’s birth inspired me to take my writing career in a new direction, focusing on poetry. That focus soon became my degree focus. I am now a junior at Idaho State University majoring in English with a creative writing emphasis and perhaps a minor in linguistics, which I am still debating.
"My poetry has been published by the ISU publication "Black Rock and Sage," (2002 and 2003), "The Storyteller," "Garbage Dog," (June 2003), and Melting Pot gifts. I have received an honorable mention from the Poetry Society of Virginia for their 2003 student poetry competition. I am also a member of the PSV.
"Most of my poetry is focused on the events that have transpired in that existence called Life. Primarily it deals with the military. I spent six years in the Army and that is something that will always be with you, so it seeps into my writing, along with things that are discussed in my classes and everyday things that I observe. I also deal with my past, the recognition of multiple heritages and the struggle to identify with one while at the same time trying to identify with them all.
"I was born in Alabama, but lived mostly in North Carolina, which I consider my home and the greatest state in the Union, other than Kentucky. My roots will always be Southern, but my wife is from Idaho, my current residence. Each summer I go to North Carolina to recharge my Southern Roots and relax after a long school year.
"Currently, I am the student writer for the ISU office of University Relations but may “sell out” and go back to government service . . . hell undergrads need to eat!
"My interests include, fencing, (foil only), writing, reading, playing computer or video games, hiking when I can get out and do it, canoeing when I get the time to do it, camping, ditto, research, watching the History Channel, playing with my three-year-old son, and watching movies.
"My favorite poets include Mary Oliver, Sylvia Plath, Walt Whitman, Robert Whittemore, T. S. Eliot, and James Tate, among others. My favorite fiction writer would be Robert Jordan. I also love classic literature.
"I can be contacted at spidey_8463@yahoo.com. I also maintain some publications at http://Writing.com/authors/englishmaj05.
T. O.'s works here at Unlikely Stories are:
2003:
The Freudian Position
Aches
Fencing
When you told me he fucked you all night