M. Teresa Clayton - Mystic Verses

I met Mrs. Clayton in early 2010 to interview her about the Mystic Verses site that was hosted on Ning. There was a bit of buzz online in other websites such as Author’s Den, Goodreads, Poets Corner, Grapevine and The Muse, along with her popularity on Myspace and I wanted to know more about her. 

I had prepared for our interview by reading everything I could find online written by her. Her Myspace page offered a plethora of writings that impressed me and frightened me. She was quite adept at expressing herself in rhyme, often killing off an antagonist or two with a surgeon’s precision. Then she would follow that up with something so gentle and loving; it left me with a bit of readers whiplash. Did I mention the erotic and the bewitching poetry that popped up here and there, leaving me short of breath and speechless?

When I met her, it was at a restaurant a little after 1:00 on a Friday. Though the lunch crowd had thinned out, I was amazed to find her sitting quietly at her table in the middle of the room. It was as if she had coordinated the entire dining area so that her table sat in the absolute center. I had to wonder why she would choose the middle of a dining room for an intimate interview about her work. I never asked her why. 

I introduced myself. She offered her hand from her seated position and smiled at me like a cat with a new toy. I had lost all control over this interview and I knew it. I proceeded to ask the questions I had jotted down in my notebook and asked her if she minded if I recorded the conversation so I didn’t have to waste her time writing her responses down. She agreed, and off we went with an interview that resembled a psychedelic evangelistic occult tutorial for idiots.

Looking back, I still remember how bewitching she was. She could look at you and right through you. She could laugh and say the most absurd things then follow that up by saying something deeply profound with the ease of a snake charmer. I could not challenge her with a question she could not answer. I was sure if I tried to, she would simply laugh at me and carry on as if it were all a silly game of Go Fish. 

I’ve since misplaced the tapes of that interview and I can’t even be absolutely sure it took place. I seem to remember it yet, there was nothing concrete in my memory to rely upon. All I have to offer as proof of our meeting is this, my unedited submission to the Charon Chronicles (now defunct).

I contacted Ms. Clayton (now a widow - her husband passed away later that year) to get her permission to use the interview for an online zine I am trying to produce. She offered to talk with me again, gave me her phone number and we had a very nice conversation about her life today and the revision of her book MYSTIC VERSES. My timing seems to be a bit contrived but I assure you I had no idea she had rewritten the book in its entirety.

I am so sorry to hear of your husbands passing. This must have been very hard on you and your family.

Tony, I don’t view death in the same way a lot of people do. There is a book called NO DEATH, NO FEAR by Thich Nhat Hanh, and he explains death in a way that I’ve always tried to but simply didn’t know how. I don’t believe in death. I know the body stops working but the life doesn’t; it just takes on a new form but it’s still life - one’s essence continues.

My children were hurt and that hurt me terribly. I couldn’t make them understand what I knew to be true. Their Dad wasn’t really gone. He was just different. But in truth, I suppose if we can’t touch someone, we perceive them as gone. 

So, your children don’t always follow along with your beliefs?

[laughs] No.

Can you elaborate?

No. They have their beliefs and they are entitled to them. 

I can respect that. Can we talk about life after our last interview? Other than losing your husband, what other changes have come and gone or remained the same?

I can give you the generic update. I’m sorry, but so much has happened in that small amount of time, whew! I published a book of short stories and a novella. As you remember from our first interview, a man by the name of Gregory Banks inspired me to write short stories. I did that and then wrote Judith.

I have also written a biography on a great artist by the name of Gabriela Garza Padilla.

After finishing that book, I went to work rewriting Mystic Verses. It now contains nothing but mystic verse - 185 pages.

And, my children are all married now with children of their own. And, I am engaged and living with a wonderful man who makes me very happy. I am truly living in abundance and I am living my bliss.

Three of my beautiful cats have passed away and I have adopted three more - I have four. A good witch can never have enough familiars around her. [laughs]

I remember now how crazy that first interview was. This could be an interview about you the poet or writer, or it could be about fairies and unicorns.

[Laughs] Funny you should mention unicorns. That has come up a lot lately on Facebook. Is this synchronicity?

Are you interviewing me now? [we both laugh] Okay, let me try to get control of this again. Let me ask - you said you wrote two books, short stories and a novella, is that right?

Yep.

Good. What is the name of the book with the short stories? And what kind of stories are they? Can you give me some information on that book first.

Sync.! I wrote that one first so, yes, I would love to talk about that one first. [laughs]

It is a book of nine short stories - Tesla says there is powerful magic in the number nine - and they are almost all speculative fiction with some scientific support. The “what if” factor comes into play a lot. I think my work reads a lot like The Twilight Zone, but then again, I live in the twilight zone.

I don’t think normal has ever applied to me in any way and at my age, I am celebrating that. Who wants to be normal when you can have this kind of reality? Don’t answer that, it really isn’t a question.

I live in a reality I create. A splendid one at that! I like to think that the people around me understand that but their reality prevents them from joining me because they live in the one they have created and it does not have any resemblance to mine.

However, there are complete strangers out there who totally get it.

The book did very well for a first timer. I was surprised. It is still selling well.

What is the name of your novella and what is it about? 

O Lord, the novella. Well, the name of the book is Judith. That is the tamest thing about it. 

It is about generations of women in this family that meet with similar fates. They all possess one thing - a vanity with a mirror and a reflection within that mirror that doesn’t mince words. Therefore, it is for mature readers due to language, sexual situations and violence.

That is all I really like to say about it or I’d give it away and it has made my house payments for a while and has been in the top twenty several times over the years since I published it, in 2012, I think.

Violence and Sex, that doesn’t surprise me. I’ve read your poetry. You write poetry like no one I’ve ever read. So now you have refurbished the entire book of mystic verses? Why?

I never felt that the book was true. It had other poetry included within its pages that were not mystic in any way. I suppose they were fillers. I wanted a book of mystic verse that was 100% mystic and nothing else. So, I went to work and made it right. Now the book is true and I am honored to have had the courage to admit it was not worthy and to make it worthy. 

You remember our conversation about the Otheres? Well, they guide me. I simply could not live with the knowledge that their words were corrupted by my own personal works. I will put MY poems into another book, but this one belongs to them.

I had forgotten about them. I remember now. You talk to spirits or they talk... [cuts me off]

I am clairaudient. The Otheres is a name they call themselves and they speak to me telepathically. They reveal things to me and I have the responsibility to translate it and give it to you. I happen to do that in verse.

They are intra-dimensional beings and as far as I know, anyone can have a dialogue with them but they would have to be open to it first; believe.

Sorry about that. I do remember that conversation. You told me you were a mystic. Can I ask you to define that again? I’m wondering if you have learned anything more about yourself and mysticism since our last talk.

I am still a mystic. Once a mystic; always a mystic. You can’t unlearn, you know.

Okay, I’ll give you this: I do evolve, I do learn more, discover more, uncover more. It’s alive; this knowing, and it grows and it asks questions and it asks more of me than I would ever think possible.

A mystic is someone who can let go of the indoctrinations and dogmas that are thrust down our throats disguised as truths when they are really lies that are a part of man’s agenda with power in this world. A mystic lets that go and will open their mind, heart and soul to the Universe to ask questions and find answers or knowledge that IS truth. Akashic knowledge. 

With this knowing we are able to transcend so much of this world and take part in other realms and be one with everything. Isn’t that the real reason we look for god? But, we look in the wrong places. We have everything we need right here.

Can you spell that word, akoshic? I’ve never heard of this, what is it? Now you have my curiosity piqued.

AKASHIC It is the Akashic Record or Akashic Knowledge and it resides out there; everywhere, and you and anyone else who is interested, can learn how to reach out there and have the answers to your questions. It is part of the Universe. Not as in the Moon and Stars and that’s all - there is more, so much more, to the Universe and I can’t teach it to you in one phone call or one meeting. It takes more commitment from you and more time to grasp it all. You have to let go in pieces and accept in pieces. There is no way you could just stop believing in everything you’ve been taught and suddenly accept something totally foreign to you right now.

As far as being a mystic, it isn’t anything a book can tell you or you can touch or see. It is ether, it is ethereal, it is thought, it is intention, it is a form of spirituality that is really quite spiritual. It is filled with ways and means that defy logic but science is catching up and has caught up on many levels. We are now finding affirmations in the scientific community. And, yes, there are aliens.

You also wrote a biography?

Yes. Gabriela Garza Padilla is a Visionary Artist. The name of the book is SHARIM and will be debuting in mid 2015. She is a phenomenal woman and a mystic herself. Synchronicity. That is all I wish to say on this subject as well. I don’t want to spoil the surprise of this book when it is released.

Okay. Back to Mystic Verses, what happened to the site? I tried to pull it up and it was gone. There are other sites that seem incomplete with that name, so I am really confused.

Mystic Verses had achieved all it could achieve and I was becoming more inundated with offers to write and inspiration was coming fast and furious. Also, Ning wanted to charge so much to keep the site. We moved to another host site and then, they upped the charges to keep it running. It was becoming a negative in my life and I prefer to keep things positive, so I closed it. 

Yes, some of those people, including me, have tried to resurrect the old site but to no avail. It just doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now. I’m okay with that. As it turns out, I would not have had the time to run the site. I am busy being happy in my personal life and finding so much to write about. I’ll have to go check and see what is still out there with that name so I can close them all down.

I am so happy for you. I knew back in 2010 you would be very successful. Is there anything else you would like to add before I close out our interview?

I appreciate the confidence and the compliment. I know you found some of my poetry to be extreme but you told me you always loved the way I presented it. I always try to write differently so as not to get pigeon-holed as a any one type of poet or writer.

I also appreciate my readers and I surprise them all the time with ‘specials’ on Facebook. I do this so that people will pay attention to my page. I offer ‘at cost’ pricing, free books, free downloads, free signings, picture ops, meet and greets, etc.

Right now - for February - anyone who bought or received a copy of the first edition of Mystic Verses can get the new book for $4.95 and possibly a coupon to add to the savings. All they have to do is contact me on facebook. I’ll give you the link.

Click here

I’ll be watching you. I predict you will be a household name and known for your amazing writing. I will be ordering those other two books so there may be another interview if that is okay with you. It has been my honor speaking with you.

Thank you Tony. I feel it is my honor. Thank you for the interest and the interview. I also want to thank you for the advertising. [laughs] It’s hard to find new ways to get the word out, so I really appreciate this.

Why did I ask for this interview at this time? Well, I am trying to get a new zine up and running online. I remembered this writer from that meeting long ago. 

I no longer live near her, I moved to Chicago in 2011. I did a Google search for her and found her Facebook page (Myspace died a long time ago). I contacted her there and friended her under my real name. She had no idea. 

I was reading her work under her Notes and on a link I found for Wattpad. Still amazed at her talent, I had to tell her who I was in private messaging. This is what came out of that contact. Now, I need to get busy building that zine.

Postscript: My predictions of her success have come to pass just as I knew they would.