Fayette County native and award-winning author publishes first poetry collection
A Fayette County native whose work has won prestigious awards published his first poetry collection, 鈥淎 Plan in Case of Morning,鈥� which takes an introspective look at defining masculinity.
Phill Provance, who now lives in the Chicago area, began writing the poems during a divorce and 鈥渕essy legal situation鈥� involving their son. At the same time, he was reading classic literature about the archetypal hero, and the #MeToo movement was taking shape.
鈥淭he hero is never a good father. The hero is out for gold, girls and impressing whatever gods he has,鈥� he said.
Heroes in classic literature often abandon their families in pursuit of some epic quest, he said, and the societal definition of masculinity stretches back to the Victorian age and did not precede it. Provance considers individuality an essential piece of masculinity, rather than adhering to dictated notions of manhood.
Provance said he asked himself, 鈥淐an the hero actually be someone who cares more about his kids than anything else?鈥�
He wrote the collection over the course of about 15 years, describing it as part memoir and part fiction, part poetry and part prose. He said he wanted his work to be 鈥渁ccessible to the average reader.鈥� He recalled English classes in the Uniontown Area School District where studies of poetry involved mysteries and ciphers, where students were asked to 鈥渃rack the code.鈥�
鈥淭he American public tends to have this really, really strange aversion to poetry as though it鈥檚 some kind of unreasonable cipher and they don鈥檛 want to be bothered with it,鈥� he said.
The collection includes memories of his childhood, such as a heat wave in Fayette County in the late 1980s, stretching out on his grandmother鈥檚 Chevette and feeling the heat radiating onto his skin from the metal surface. He recalled those moments when observing similar behavior in his young son.
The middle section of the book involves the hero鈥檚 quest, battling against death. Provance said a former college roommate died suddenly in his mid-30s, and he questioned why death can happen without explanation even after surviving youthful antics.
鈥淭he core monster, I think, for everyone no matter what your identity, is fear of death. It鈥檚 your own mortality that you have to overcome, knowing full well that death is going to win out eventually,鈥� he said.
One of the most meaningful pieces in the book to Provance is 鈥淕iven the Day,鈥� which was inspired by 鈥渨aking up to how good life is despite the bad,鈥� he said.
He acknowledged that poetry is typically dark, and the mind often wants to focus on the negatives and potential threats.
鈥淎t the end of the day, wonderful things do happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think right now people need to hear that, because life is pretty terrible right now.鈥�