JENNIFER MAHAL -- In the Wings

Poet Lee Mallory will be the first to tell you he is not shy about

pushing his art. The Newport Beach resident, who teaches English as a

second language at Santa Ana College, calls himself a “poetry pusher” and

a “literary zealot.”

“I’m trying to raise the banner of the spoken word,” he said.

Twice a month, Mallory puts on poetry nights -- the second Wednesday

of the month at Alta Coffee in Newport Beach and the first Tuesday at the

Gypsy Den in Costa Mesa.

The written word, he said, is essential in this modern age where

communication is breaking down. Poetry can save a moment, fix it in time

so it never fades away.

“I think poetry can help people break out and build bridges to one

another,” said Mallory, who is also a marathon runner.

Poetry comforts. It heals. It brings things into focus. It allows

other things to blur at the edges. It redeems. It helps you to survive.

These are lessons Mallory has been imparting on his classes and his

proteges for more than 20 years. Then, in 1999, the teacher became the

student when his 22-year-old daughter, Misty, died, leaving her parents

and sister, Natalee, bereft.

“I had to eat my own words,” Mallory said. “I would face a tough day,

but then at night, I would pour my heart out. I had to really do it, but

in a way it saved me.”

Misty was a poet too, a girl after her father’s heart. A book of

Misty’s poems, “Two Sides Now,” was published posthumously by FarStarFire

Press.

Her final poem, “Withstands All Tests of Time,” speaks of being

omnipresent.

“I am in the desert, shifting sands with every breath I take

“I am in the forests, hewing tree, the innocent suffer

“I am on the surface of every sea, bringing fire where none should be

. . .

“But soon I’ll stay on high, bright, for I am conquest . . .”

A poem by her father, also in the book, seems to have a reply.

“birthday star, love’s fire

“your heart my heaven’s jewel

“one bright hope on high”

Mallory, who rides the bus every day to work, has published “seven or

eight” books of poetry. Someone once told him he was the father of O.C.

poetry, to which he snapped back, “At least I’m not the grandfather.”

Born in the San Francisco Bay area, Mallory moved to Newport Beach in

1964 with his mother and stepfather, a pilot. After attending Newport

Harbor High School, he went to UC Santa Barbara, where he majored in

French.

He was interested in 19th century French poetry and thought he would

teach French someday. Ironically, he actually teaches Spanish-speaking

students.

“I should have studied Spanish,” he said.

While there, he met a graduate student who lived in a refurbished

water tower. The student was a poet and wildly different from Mallory,

who was an ROTC student.

“One day I would be drilling in uniform, and the next morning I would

do bohemian,” Mallory said.

The man turned him on to the power of poetry, his life’s passion now.

In 1978, he received his master’s degree from Cal State Long Beach in

teaching and comparative literature. The degree allowed him to begin his

teaching career.

Charles Bukowski and Kenneth Rex Roth are the two poets Mallory said

influence him.

Bukowski and Mallory actually became friends.

“It was like the young poet going to the mountain and meeting the old

man of letters,” he said.

The poet was very confrontational but pushed Mallory to write better.

And what Mallory likes writing about is a different kind of

confrontation, the battle of the sexes. He has been tagged”The Love Poet”

for his erotic imagery. Every February, he organizes a love and erotic

poetry contest.

Whether it be words of love or a refrain of sorrow, poetry needs to be

brought forth, Mallory said. And it could not have a more fervent

advocate.

“Poetry is a vehicle that can take society to a better place,” he

said. “I really believe that.”

* * *

Do you know a local artist, writer, painter, singer, filmmaker, etc.,

who deserves to get noticed? Send your nominee to In The Wings, Daily

Pilot, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627, by fax to (949) 646-4170 or

by e-mail to o7 [email protected]

* JENNIFER MAHAL is features editor of the Daily Pilot.