Ann Mirabile Lees is the author of the new poetry collection We Are All Seatmates on the Spaceship Earth. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Q: Over how long a period did you write the poems in your new collection?
A: The poems in the book were written over a period of more than 25 years. The first draft of the earliest poem was written in 1998. The first draft of the latest poem was written in 2025.
Q: How was the collection’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: The title is from the last two lines of the poem “Devilish Dichotomy,” the first in the book. It was written in 2017, although it could have been written yesterday! The title of the poem, “Devilish Dichotomy,” signifies what the title means to me – the cruelty and irony that fate determines who will have a prosperous life and who will be born destitute.
Q: How did you choose the order in which the poems would appear?
A: The book designer, Janet Holladay, suggested creating several broad topics to make it easier to read the poems. I chose Travelers, Story Tellers, Victims, Dreamers, and Philosophers. The topics were chosen based on the subject matter of the poems. The order for the topics was determined by the nature of the topic.
“Travelers” is an invitation to take a trip via poetry, a good way to start. “Story Tellers” is an enticement to keep reading. “Victims” is a reminder that many don’t have the luxury of reading poetry or anything else. “Dreamers” brings the reader back from tragedy to a bit of light.
“Philosophers” is the weightiest part of the book, a chance for readers to ponder their own way of looking at things and maybe broaden their understanding through the insights of a poem.
Within the topics, the guiding idea was to go from introductory thoughts to more significant ones. Some poems fit in more than one topic, so some assignments were a bit random.
Q: The poet Matthew Lippman said of the book, “We Are All Shipmates on the Spaceship Earth, at its core, is about the community of all living things, of sharing this space together, and of being deeply alive in that space.” What do you think of that description?
A: I like it! It’s true that I feel a connection to all living things, from a weed on a New York City street, to lobsters, to Great Blue Herons, to a golden spruce, to people in all sorts of situations – searching, sick, immigrants, happy, destitute. Even to non-living things like beach stones.
For me, the keys to a “good” life are empathy – being aware of how difficult, even terrible, life can be for some, how good it can be for others; and observation of all the fascinating things around me that others may not see.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: More poems! For at least the last 10 years, I’ve been in a weekly poetry writers group based on Martha’s Vineyard. Since the pandemic, we’ve been meeting on Zoom, so I can now participate year-round.
I have so many rough drafts of poems that are awaiting revision that I sometimes wonder if I’ll get the job done, and I’m still writing new poems.
For many years I was also in a now-defunct autobiography workshop at my local senior center in Brookline. I have several dozen prose stories that I’d like to put together as a book. Mostly wishful thinking, I’m afraid, but it’s still on my bucket list.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: The publication of Seatmates in 2025 coincided with my 90th birthday year. I like the coincidence! But I know I’ll have to keep working hard to get everything done that I’d like to do.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. To order the book, call Brookline Booksmith at 617-566-6660.
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