BIOGRAPHY
I started writing poetry as a result of two important events. The first one was reading Woody Allen's Without Feathers in 10th Grade. I was 15 and in the midst of the most miserable period of my life and Woody Allen's left field approach to humor was a revelation to me. His ability to combine two completely absurd concepts or images and yet somehow make them palpable to a reader astounded me.
The second event was simply Biology class. Biology really brought home how disgusting organisms could be, including human beings. I would write the most disgusting images my brain could summon, which wasn't very difficult for me in Biology class, and transfer them using a particularly Jewish style of humor into love poems, political poems, etc.
I have been compared since then to William Boroughs and Alan Ginsburg, but I had never read either of them until much later in life so I don't consider them influences. I was much more influenced by the wordy lyrics of Fish, the lead singer of Marillion, a progressive rock band from Edinborough, Scotland.
In 1994 over half of the 150 or so poems I had written since 1985 were stolen out of a car parked outside Tower Records in the West Village. Ironically, the 100 or so CD's I had in the car were recovered by the police, but not the poetry. That set me back years. I began writing regularly again in August of 2000 and have written about 100 poems since then. I have performed live at several venues in Manhattan and Jersey City including a series of performances at the Gershwin hotel during which I read between acoustic performers including Tris Mccall, Jaymay, She Keeps Bees, Elizabeth Harper, The Subway Band and Nathan Brouillet.
Tris McCall’s take on my poetry:
"matrix: a poetic prodigy, matrix's written work is perhaps most conceptually comparable to that of the young howard stern -- a revulsion at the material conditions of human existence that can only be expunged or muted by indulging in grotesqueries. but while stern was always content to ramble, matrix developed a rhythmic sensibility and bizarre discipline and hammered his observations into hideous stanzas. it isn't for the fainthearted, but if you're ready for an honest-to-god demented new jersey voice, click here and ask the poet for a sample of his lyrical bravissimo.
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