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The need to be more creative results in ... A self-taught poet
By Sean Barron
LIBERTY
Whether treating people with chronic pain, running an agency that assists those at the end of their lives or handling clinical documents, Dr. Eric Chevlen seems to surround himself with creativity.
Perhaps it was a natural transition when he switched from practicing pain management to poetry.
“The book reflects on suffering, the meaning of life and why bad things happen to good people,” Chevlen said, referring to “Triple Crown,” which is a series of interconnected sonnets he wrote that captures and ties together themes on religion, conflict, suffering and triumph.
Chevlen spoke recently from his Virginia Trail residence about his medical background, as well as what inspired him to write “Triple Crown” (Borromean Books, $13.95). It’s also available at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com, he noted.
After graduating from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and receiving postgraduate training at Ohio State University’s medical school, Chevlen spent 13 years in San Jose, Calif., as an oncologist.
Eventually the 1967 graduate of The Rayen School in Youngstown expanded his practice to include pain management, largely because of an interest in treating those with chronic, nonmalignant pain, he explained.
“It’s the job of the pain specialist to erase the invisible,” he said.
After moving back to the Mahoning Valley, Chevlen spent close to eight years as Hospice of the Valley’s medical director, then accepted his current position with Anthem Blue Cross.
Several years ago Chevlen said he felt the need to do something more creative, which was the first step leading to “Triple Crown.”
The process, however, was anything but swift and immediate for a man who says he never set out to be a poet, but is self-taught.
“It took three or four years to write the book and six to nine months to write the structure,” Chevlen noted, adding that he wasn’t interested in finding a publisher right away. “It was quite emotionally draining.”
The book is a unified work set up in a pattern of intertwined red, blue and yellow circles that each contain 14 poems representing conflict, heaven and decay, respectively. A 15th sonnet is implicit in the previous 14 under each color, he explained.
Chevlen uses a technique called iambic pentameter, a commonly used meter in poetry and drama that describes a particular rhythm the words establish in each line and is measured in small groups of syllables called feet.
Another device that appeals to Chevlen — and is scattered throughout his sonnets — is ambiguity, in which a single word can have two or more meanings.
“Triple Crown” also contains several puns and a few sexual connotations, he continued.
It would be a mistake, however, to assume that this is his first attempt at delving into the genre. Chevlen wrote a 14-line sonnet as a marriage proposal to his wife, Laurel. The first letter in each line spells “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” Chevlen explained, adding that he also wrote sonnets for the couple’s 10th and 20th anniversaries.
Chevlen said that if he decides to tackle another book project, he expects another arduous process.
“It’s like running a marathon and being asked if you want to run the next day,” he said.
Chevlen and his wife have 18-year-old twins, Dorie and Abraham, and 19-year-old twins, Tamara and Jacob.