An interview with K. Michael Williams
One element of Re/Creation’s written production is The Work, which we’ve published irregularly to date but is now a monthly publication featuring one piece of literary work by a member of our workshop. This month’s piece, “Hard Day for the Poleeseman” by K. Michael Williams, is a persona poem in the voice of a police officer. Culling from ten of the unfortunately many instances of police violence on unarmed Black men, Williams has spent time the past few months crafting and revising this searing indictment of the quotidian nature with which many police officers enact violence.
In celebration of the piece, the Re/Creation collective has built a series of interview questions in conversation with Williams. We invite you to delve into this writer’s mind and the work that mind created.
We look forward to sharing more of The Work with you in the coming months!
What do you consider the primary influences, personal and/or stylistic, on this piece?
I don't consider myself a poet. Can't even say I like poetry. But I can say the major influence was my son. He wanted to do record a rap using the same outline as "Poleeseman." But he never got around to it. So, more than five years after he first told me about the idea, I asked if I could run with it. He gave me the go-ahead.
In general, all my writings are influenced by Baldwin, Morrison, Branch or any good writing that I'm jealous of.
Tell us about the mood or mental state you have to get into to write this piece, from the perspective of a policeman?
It took me at least two months to put this thing together. In the beginning, I couldn't find the voice and the emotional heft of the piece kept weighing me down. Now, I'm not saying I think the piece is deep. It just kept reminding me how terrible all this was. Plus, I had to take each unique incident and filter it into a single situation.
How did you decide which people’s stories to include, and whose to leave out? Can you talk about when that decision was difficult to make?
At first, I was listing every single cop-on-black-killing I could find. That was too overwhelming. It broke my heart to see so many members of my community taken down by a group that allegedly protected us.
My initial writings with as many names as I could find just went on and on and on. That alone kept me blocked. I finally decided to streamline it to 10 or a dozen incidents. (Forgive me if I don't use terms like "killing" or "murder." They hurt.)
Looking at my list, I eliminated incidences where there was a resolution (i.e., someone was punished or fired, etc.). I wanted to create an impression of relentless abuse. I also picked the more sensational and well-known as I didn't intend to use names. I didn't want the reader to have to do a lot of thinking about which incident I was talking about.
What was it like to embody a white man’s voice, and how did you find that voice over multiple drafts?
When I craft a character, I find it pretty easy to create their voice but it took a while to figure out who my poleeseman was going to be. My initial "white" voice was too formal. I wonder if I went too far in the other direction. But once I decided to give him an almost redneck-ish boastful, yet oblique, tone, it a lot easier to construct the narrative. I wanted that good ol' boy inflection, the guy who goes home, pops open a beer and looks forward to getting back out there.
Do you support defunding the police?
No, I do not. I don't believe taking money from law enforcement is going to change that community's attitudes toward blacks or other BIPOCs. It would be like giving a Klansman a million dollars under the assumption they'll stop being an asshole racist.
Do you consider this poem political? What does it mean for art or literature to be political? Do you think the personal is political and vice versa?
No, I don't view it as particularly political. It's just a statement about the state of things and how, if we think about it, things are pretty damned disgraceful. And, yes, anyone can construe that as political. I suppose, by nature, art is political. If you're smart, you're making a statement that sparks imagination and conversation. You craft a work that tells your audience about the state of the world. Doesn't matter if you're Stephen King or Barack Obama, you want your audience to see a point of view.
On that note, how do you see your own politics and voice changing or developing since you joined Re/Creation on your release, especially since some of us have seen your work on the inside? Do you think there is a difference between writing on the inside and writing once you got out?
Prison had a dynamic impact on everything about me. It's refined the way I think, act and react. It's made me change my views on what kind of man I want to be. I credit both incarceration and Re/Creation for helping me find my voice and refocus my attention in all the right directions. And for the record, it's a lot easier to write on the inside. What else have you got to do?