Inside The Inspired Word Studio with Spoken Word Poet Jane LeCroy

     

    We hit spoken word poet Jane LeCroy with the Bernard Pivot questionnaire, made famous by host James Lipton on the Bravo channel’s Inside the Actors Studio, and here’s what we got:

     

    What is your favorite word?

     
    “Yes” is my favorite word because I love to hear it in response to things that I want, and like e.e. cummings states in his poem love is a place (58)
    yes is a world
    & in this world of
    yes live
    (skillfully curled)
    all worlds

     

    What is your least favorite word?

     
    “Chaste” is my least favorite word.  I hate how “Chaste” sounds and I hate what it means.  The word withholds, in sound and meaning; it is the onomatopoeia of squelching desire for the sake of appearances.  It works like a “shhhhhhhh!” on the soul.

     

    What turns you on?

     
    Physics, astronomy, temporary autonomous zones, big imaginations, praise, attention, the feeling of understanding or being understood, good poetry and being tan all turn me on.

     

    What turns you off?

     
    Bad paintings, bad porn, bad memories, bad breath and bad attitudes turn me off.

     

    What sound or noise do you love?

     
    I love the sound of a VW engine, a skateboard rolling down the street, a train passing by, or a trombone- because they remind me of favorite old lovers.  I love the sound of my husband’s voice and children’s laughter because they are the sounds of my eternally new loves.  I also love the sound of rain hitting concrete, and ocean waves crashing on the beach, and the sound of frying, the sound of a flock of birds taking off, because they all sound like applause.

     

    What sound or noise do you hate?

     
    I hate the sound of the police and ambulances because it means something bad is happening and I have a worrying response to the sound of any emergency alarm. I also hate the sound of crying babies for the same reason.

     

    What is your favorite curse word?


    “Fuck” is my favorite curse word: it can be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, negative, positive, sexy, sloppy, mean, seductive, sorry, satiated- it means nothing and everything, is both powerless and powerful.

     

    What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

     
    The profession I’d love to attempt is being an astronaut but it’s too late for that so realistically, fantastically, for my next profession I’d like to try working on transportation barges because I’d like to get to know a great river or ocean route so intimately and have that much solitude and strangely free time.  I’d love to study the sky and water so deeply, daily and watch the huge machines at docks that look like giant mechanical dinosaurs.  I imagine I could get a lot of reading and writing done too but I’m probably romanticizing.

     

    What profession would you not like to do?

     
    I would not like to be Principal or President, any job where you have to try to serve everyone to their liking and are mostly just hated and criticized.

     

    If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

     
    I STRONGLY do not believe in the popular idea of Heaven or God or The Pearly Gates.  What you make of Earth is Heaven.  I am, and you are, God.  Your mother’s vagina is The Pearly Gates. Hello.

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