David Proskauer turns the drama of life into poetry and music

Originally from Westbury, Long Island, but a resident of The Berkshires for over 30 years, poet David Proskauer said, “I don’t know when I got the bug about writing. It just happened.”

“I am inspired by nature, people, places, family and my imagination,” he explained. “Partly, my writing has been a way to clarify my mind, heart, body and soul and as a cleansing for any bipolar irritations,” for which Proskauer says he has found success with treatments.

Proskauer recalls an uncle, Melville Crane, whom he met when he was young whom he considers “an unconscious inspiration” to begin writing.

He mentioned another inspiration: “I once met a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Gary Schmidgall, who wrote ‘Literature As Opera’ which my father gave to me and which has been a big inspiration in my life.”

Proskauer has published three books of poetry, “The Hearth Waits,” “The Oakdale Community” and “Indian Summer,” of which US Review of Books says, “His notable collection, ‘Indian Summer,’ captures the essence of fall and its impending winter.”

Besides writing poetry, Proskauer also composes music and writes lyrics. He began playing piano as a child, while his two brothers played the cello. He recalled, “ When I was very young, me, my brothers and friends put on a Gian Carl Menotti Christmas opera, ‘Amal and the Night Visitors,’ in our attic.”

He muses that it was “maybe an early exploration of things to come,” explaining, “I am in the middle of writing two librettos. One based on my group home,” where he has lived for more than 25 years, “and the other about Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the famous atheist who was considered in her time to be the most hated woman in America, which would make a very good opera.”

“I love setting poems to music.” One of his choral works, “A Quaker Cantata,” was performed and recorded by the world-renowned Gregg Smith Singers.

Proskauer offered an invitation: “Any serious composer who might want to collaborate with me, please get in touch.”

“I also write some prose with an autobiographical, journalistic flavor.” He has written the booklets, “Vineyard Vacation” and “The Empire State.”

For Proskauer, his poetry and music are the perfect answer to expressing his creativity. “Many years ago, I was really into drama. Writing and composing give me another outlet, one that is more individual and expresses the drama in my life.”

The distinction between his two creative worlds comes through in his poem “A Writer’s Almanac,” in which he considers the emotional nature of poetry alongside the more abstract quality of music:

A Writer’s Almanac

by David Proskauer

And each

Poetic verse

Moody and terse

Comes from

Feeling, emotion

And a light

And heavy

Nerve to

Be tested

And nursed

But my music

Non-verbal and

Abstract is

Full of objective

Fact

For Proskauer, the two forms may speak different languages, but both offer a way to make sense of the world — and of himself.

To contact Proskauer about his books or to collaborate, email davidproskauer@gmail.com.