Random Acts of Poetry

Donavan Barrier 

"Poetry is creative, artistic, structured, and purely organic," Starr says. "It is dreaming while awake. I'm in my own world when I write. It is an escape from our 'reality'".

Brett Starr, a poet based in La Porte County, has opened a window into his world, showing people topics sparking his interest and using poetry to bring awareness to mental health.

Starr was born and raised in Plymouth, Indiana, and graduated from Plymouth High School in 1986. He then went to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, graduating in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He works as an Engineering Manager/Product Engineer with Marley Engineered Products.

            Poetry came into Starr’s life recently. Starr frequently traveled around the United States as part of his profession. He began writing poetry in 2017 to pass the time during business travels and between reading books of knowledge and wisdom.

"It was a time when I had to travel a lot for work," said Starr, "To fill the dead time at airports and on planes."

            Starr said that the things he learned inspired him to write. Before long, he had written 40 poems. He said he decided to publish a book in 2021 at the urging of his family. He has three self-published books and is beginning to write a fourth.

Writing wasn't just a way to fill the empty spaces between work and leisure. Writing was also a way to help Starr cope with mental illness. In 1991, Starr was diagnosed with bipolar I disorder.

“I resisted accepting it for a few months,” Starr said. “I had to learn to live with it. It wasn’t going to go away.”

Starr embraced his diagnosis and would go on to use poetry as a way of dealing with his diagnosis. He wrote ten poems on mental health. On his website, he also lists resources and links for those interested in or wanting to understand their mental health better.

Since he started writing six years ago, Starr has had considerable success in local poetry circles. In April, he competed at the Lubeznik Center for the Art's First Friday Poetry Slam. He is one of several poets at the La Porte County Word Crafters, a writer's club.

Starr said that he doesn't have a set schedule of writing time and that the ideas come at the weirdest times. He said the creative flow comes to him predominantly in the mornings. He usually writes free verse couplets with end rhymes. But Starr doesn't just stick to the already registered poetry forms.

            Writing poetry, Starr said, gives him peace and makes him content with his life in general. He describes his poetry as a positive addiction, a healthy habit that has replaced some of the previous addictions he had that were not so healthy.

Starr says writing and putting his thoughts to paper brings him happiness, allowing him to be content with life and the things around him and a sense of inner peace.

"It is hard to say where this will lead me," Starr said, "But it will help me enjoy the uniqueness of my life and my observations. It brings me peace and happiness."

            To purchase any of Starr's books, they can be found at his website, www.bastarrpublishing.com, or on Amazon or Goodreads. They are available in paperback or on Kindle ebooks. He will also present his books in August at the La Porte Public Library Coolspring location and sign copies for fans or interested readers. The details of the signings can be found on his website.