Paul R. Kohn

ID 0:01

Music. This is a Vision Australia radio podcast.

Kate Cooper 0:19

On Vision Australia radio, welcome to our conversations with emerging and experienced, creative voices in our community. I'm Kate Cooper, and our guest on today's program is Paul R. Kohn, creator of music, lyrics and poems. Paul's debut poetry collection, titled soul refraction, was published in February 2023 by a dragonfly publishing. Paul's work has been published extensively, including in Black Bow, Anti Heroine, Chic Rd W World, Newcastle Poets at the Pub, anthologies blocked from the blue anthologies, first line production anthologies and in various Instagram features such as Buy Me Poetry Oz... Subtle Poets, Untwine Me Australia, Rd W World, Mankind Poetry, Oceania Inc. 

Paul has been a finalist in poetry slams and heats, most recently at the 2025 SummerSlam here in South Australia in december 2021 Paul won the World of poetry's 1k Instagram competition with his poem rise and a note to our listeners, a YouTube recording of Paul performing this poem is available at the world of Poetry 1k competition website. Paul has been a feature poet at a wide range of venues, events and open mics in South Australia, interstate and internationally and online. 

Welcome to the program, Paul. Thank you very much. It's great to be here. I'm going to begin with a question that I've asked other poets on this program. Would you tell us about your earliest memories of working creatively in any artistic area? 

Paul R Kohn 2:08

Sure. So I was very much into music as a child, so I started learning organ and piano when I was four years old. So really, I started just messing around with different kinds of instruments and singing that led to trying to write lyrics and poems and then into stories and you know, the evolution of learning, I think, as well. So yeah, really, everything I do started from music,

Kate Cooper 2:36

and we will talk about your music a bit later on as well. Your debut poetry collection titled soul refraction was published in February 2023 by dragonfly publishing. The book has a very beautiful dedication. Could I ask you to read that for us now?

Paul R Kohn 2:54

Sure. So the dedication for soul refraction is this... This is for everyone who has ever felt unseen, unheard, lost or broken, either now or at any point in their life. This is for the people who believe in me and support me each and every day. This is for the people who support the words I share, both written and spoken, online, live and now in these pages, this is for the people who believed in me, who are no longer here, either by choice or not. I truly value, appreciate, love you all, and will hold space for you forever. I am always, always here, and I hope that my words touch you, support you, help your soul to find understanding, to heal, to grow, to soar.

Kate Cooper 3:49

That is very beautiful. Thank you, Paul, your book is organized into four sections that flow from one to the other: Soul Break, Soul Heal, Soul Grow and Soul Soar - plus a prologue. In the prologue, you explain why you write and share poetry. Your story is both powerful and moving, and takes a great deal of courage to share. There's a real selflessness in telling the story of your own trajectory as a way of reaching out to others. Would you talk us through the structure of your book, from the title Soul Refraction through to the different stages, from Soul Break to Soul Soar?

Paul R Kohn 4:31

Sure, I guess, you know, as the cover art kind of shows, it has a character that's... quite broken, and then that character evolves and grows and comes back to life, but all the while that character is reflecting light. And I think that Soul Refraction is really about that journey from breaking to healing to growing to soaring, but also the understanding that every step along the way, even when we don't feel like, where we have a positive impact we can, and we do, and we're always shining a light. And so I think, yeah, really, for me, it was about that realisation that even when I'm at most, my most broken, I'm still I'm still good - like, I'm still okay. 

And I think for me, making a difference in people's lives is something that's really important, and with what I went through, I think it's about trying to share that perspective so that other people don't feel alone and unseen when they if they for whatever they're going through. 

Kate Cooper 5:34

So following on from that, did you write the four sections chronologically, or how did you compose them?

Paul R Kohn 5:41

No so they weren't written in order, because life's not linear like that. Some of the poems were quite old, but most of them were written since an event that happened to me in 2018 having said that they weren't written in order, the book is very much a reflection of a journey, and it's about sort of, it starts from an introduction, but really me at my most broken, right? And... every poem kind of grows on that and grows on that, and... one other thing I'm careful to do with my work is I, I try and always make sure that what I write and share - you know, it kind of has that positive note. So, you know, you might start in one place, but when you finish you you've risen just that little bit. 

And I think that's the evolution of the book. So while it's not, while it's a book that you can simply pick up and go to any page, and people do, or people have favourites that they go back to, I really also do recommend that people do try and read it from the start to the end, because there's a story behind each each poem. 

Kate Cooper 6:43

Paul, before we continue, would you perform for us one of your poems from the first section, Soul Break?

Paul R Kohn 6:49

Sure... the poem I'm going to perform for you from Soul Break is called Hilda. 

Here, I look into your eyes, but I can't stare too long. It's like staring at an eclipse, when the moon shadows the sun, you are the brightest star that I have ever seen, but invisible to you. Am I? As the trauma smashes me, It stole all of my passion, all of my light, left me in the darkness with no option but to fight alone as I need to, to show that I am strong, that I can heal through this, although the road is long, see, it wasn't intentional. It's that I couldn't hear. Trauma left me reeling, clinging, driven by my fear. 

But you can't hear when you're living in fear, fear of losing everything that's important to you, of perpetuating a reality that breaks you when, till it's no longer fear and reality completely shatters you, and then you realise that hurting people hurt people, hurting people hurt people, hurting people hurt people, and I don't want to hurt you ever so now I'm on my path to strength. I healed all I have learned all that's been asked of me. I step back to give space. I silence up, left, beaten, battered, bloodied, betrayed. I'm still here with trust, patience, hope and love, and I will rise because hurting people hurt people. Hurting people hurt people. 

But I refuse to do that. So I'll build myself back up, Brick by Brick by Brick by Brick by Brick by Brick by Brick, until I'm so grounded I'm unshakable, unmovable, steadfast, strong once again, because hurting people hurt people, but I I will no longer hurt. I will heal, unwavering in my strength. I will rise stronger than ever, no longer invisible, I too will now shine bright.

Kate Cooper 8:56

Thank you so much. Paul, that was fantastic. Would you tell us why he selected this particular poem to perform?

Paul R Kohn 9:04

So Here to Here is a poem that's actually really important to me. It's a reflection, I guess, on how we try and protect others when we're going through stuff, and sometimes some people still see through that and call you out on it. And my youngest kid did that to me, and that's really where that poem came from. 

Kate Cooper 9:28

Wow, Paul, there's a sense of movement in your collection, and as you indicated earlier, there's also a sense of hope, and that builds up in the second section, Soul Heal. Would you perform one of your poems from this second section?

Paul R Kohn 9:43

I am a speck in the universe. My voice loud as I scream my heart out to the moon and the stars, the only things that ever see me in my darkness, yet they show me the way always stay each experience flashing before my eyes as I clutch at the. Good process, the bad lament in all things loved and lost, missing moments and people, as I heal regrow, knowing nothing happens by chance, each experience important and divine in timing, just as the stars were scattered yet precisely placed in their prominent position on the canvas of the galaxy. 

I am fire and ice, silence broken with a crack of a flint as a lighter fire as my eyes frozen in focus, melt as the tears stream down my face in my own silent vigil to my pain a self sacrifice, as the flame licks my skin, before the smiley of self harm burns into my arm, each sky unique, like a snowflake, capturing the pain that fades into my skin this time melts it away, yet, like a doctor dot, I can connect them all, painting a picture of all that broke me, that made me see I am a person. I am more than the sum of the things that hurt me that broke me, regretting nothing, respecting everything, holding space for everyone, because I'm worth it, and so are they. 

Sharing the good and the bad, the inside and the out, using every ounce of strength to hold myself up on the wall for everyone to see, sharing what I've learned, how I've healed, in the hope that it helps someone save someone, give someone a new perspective, far from a perfect picture, I'm torn apart by wounds and bruises, held together by scars and stitches, but despite everything, I am uniquely me, just like you are uniquely you, and I am, you are, we are all art.

Kate Cooper 11:47

In that poem and in that section, you reiterate the idea that each of us is a unique work of art. Would you tell us what inspires you to use these words? They're very powerful and very effective.

Paul R Kohn 12:02

So I think that was really a reflection on myself to start with, but also heading along to poetry events. And lots of people really do share deeply and things that they've gone through and how those things have impacted them. And I think that that's really important, because that is how we help others, and that how is how we bring light into other people's lives and share that perspective and share what we've learned, so that other people don't have to learn it for themselves necessarily. So yeah, I think that uniqueness in everyone's story, if everyone's different, everyone is unique, everyone is a piece of art.

Kate Cooper 12:46

And it's thinking about everyone as a piece of art that really captures my attention. And I think too we spoke earlier about how your poems do show that trajectory from breaking to soaring, but also they're very relatable, and so for me, reading through them, it just takes you beyond and enables each of us to actually see how we might be a unique work of art. So you don't just use those words, you actually show what those words mean through your writing. Thank you so much. That's so good. Thank you. 

One of your poems in the first section is titled connection protection, and that really captures the tension and the back and forth relationship between protecting oneself and connecting with others on that journey from Soul break to soul heal. And that connection with others, as we've said, is another theme running throughout your book, Paul, you're a spoken word poet who performs at poetry events around Adelaide, interstate and internationally. And through your performances, you're continually connecting with others. What inspired you to first start performing your poetry at spoken word events?

Paul R Kohn 14:02

So connection, protection for me, I guess, is a reflection probably almost immediately after what happened, what I went through, which was in a traumatic event that left me with PTSD and MDD and among other things, and the fallout from that was not good. And so I think that's part of what inspires me, right like I felt alone, I felt unseen, I felt like I had no voice. Part of my own way of understanding and learning is to research or write or like, to actually try and make my knowledge grow. And so I guess that's where a lot of my work, particularly in soul refraction, has come from. 

Another part of that is, as as I mentioned earlier, music's a big part of my life. I used to do a lot of stuff with music, but I felt like writing music and lyrics was constraining. I felt. Like I could tell people about a point in time, but I couldn't tell them about the whole story. And for me, that meant that what I was telling them, especially after all of this other stuff happened, there was so much more to tell. It would lose context. So I moved back to poetry, because it allows me to tell that whole story and tell it faster.

And I guess I share it to help other people. I share it so that you know, I'm sharing a perspective they might not have considered or thought about or even seen. I share it so they don't have to go through it alone, so they don't feel like they're going through something alone so they feel seen, heard and understood.

Kate Cooper 15:44

Thank you. On Vision Australia Radio, you're listening to our conversation program, Emerging Writers. Our guest today is Paul R. Kohn, creator of music, lyrics and poems, Paul, as well as performing, you also take part in online poetry events. Would you tell us about those and about your role in them as a moderator and curator, and what that involves? And I have a second part to this question. Are they a consequence of COVID lockdowns, or were they happening already?

Paul R Kohn 16:21

So I'm going to answer the second part of the question. First, yes, they were a consequence of COVID lockdowns, and most of them have probably stopped now. There's still a couple in Australia that I do attend regularly: Westside Poetry Slam, which is run out of Sydney, and Poetry at the Pub in Newcastle. They both still run those over Zoom, there's Girls On Key that still runs online as well. And Perth Poetry Club runs every Saturday as a hybrid in person online event. So yeah, all of those, except for Girls On Key, are hybrid. Girls On Key, I think, is still completely online now. 

So regarding the moderator and curator roles. I mostly did that for your place events, which was run by a person from the UK who lived in New Zealand at the time and couldn't leave the country because of COVID. And I guess moderating was really about monitoring the chat, monitoring the screens to make sure there was nothing untoward going on, making sure the poets were organised and ready when it was their turn to be up next, and just really ensuring that it was a safe place for both the performers and the audience.

Kate Cooper 17:34

Paul, before we talk about the third and fourth sections in your book, I'm interested in knowing how your experiences of performing your poetry to a live audience influence the way you then create your work.

Paul R Kohn 17:47

That's such a good question. So I think, as you've probably seen today, given that I can barely sit down when I perform and a lot of the way that my lines tie together, it's rhythm and flow. For me, having that music background, I found it really easy to like memorise lyrics to all the different songs, because there's a tone or something changes in the music, and that's your key, and then you come in like and for me, I needed to do that in order to memorize my own work when I write my poetry as well. So that's one thing that's important to me. 

Another thing that's important to me is keeping people safe. A poem might be quite confronting in its subject, but I try and always build that poem to have a positive realisation at the end. And the way that I perform my poems again, it's about muscle memory, one aspect of it, but it's also about that engaging performance. It's more than just words like it's showing the emotion behind the words as well.

Kate Cooper 18:54

Paul, would you perform one of the poems for us now that's in your third section, Soul Grow?

Paul R Kohn 19:00

Sure... 

Depression anxiety, stress, depression anxiety stress,depression anxiety stress, depression anxiety stress. Mental health care in this country, let's be honest, it's a mess. Doc, I know I'm here for the DAS test, but your black and white carelessness, your sugar coated ignorance. Do you really think that's best? Why is the person responsible for my mental health hurting it so much? What right do they have to stand between me and my psych? Why is it that the person that doesn't understand stands between me and the person that might how can they hold my life in their hands and stop me from saving mine? It doesn't matter what the trigger the problems only getting bigger. 

So they look at the stats with Rigo generic stats breed solutions that make us sicker, and I think. Sick, you're assigned risk factors are by the book, but no two people's experiences are the same. If you look, see there's no index for mental health, just a list of terms, a gloss or regloss over me and make one stick then push me out the door, still sick. See, I'm an eight percenter, one of the people with a mental health condition, with two or more disorders, PTSD, MDD, social anxiety, the glossary terms, they stick to me now part of me, yet leaving me walking around armed my triggers like those of a load of gum when pull create an inner silent explosion the result a rush of blood to my wounded mind as my soul splits open and my emotions shatter 

but I confront my demons head on, because I have to, because I have no choice, because even those who understand don't understand, don't stand by me or even near me. Just look the other way, walk away, and all I can do is say, Don't abandon those you love in their time of need. Don't leave them in silence. For silence screams contempt. Contempt breeds complacence. Complacence creates indifference. And the ones you love, they're just left silently screaming, broken and alone. So find your empathy and compassion even when they can't care, don't care. Care for them with all that you are, don't show them the door. Show them that you're more. Stand behind the talk you talk and do not walk.

Kate Cooper 21:35

Paul, when we were talking out there, you mentioned that part of your moderator role online is to provide trigger warnings, and we have been talking about some very sensitive issues. And for our listeners, if this or any part of our conversation does cause you or anyone you know distress, call, one 800 RESPECT, that's 1800 737 7732, or lifeline on 13 1114. Paul, the poem that you read for us before, would you tell us why you chose that particular one?

Paul R Kohn 22:18

Yeah, so Walk the Talk for me is very much a reflection on my own mental health journey, with family, with friends, with professionals in Australia...

When I was trying to access it, it was difficult to access it. It was difficult to find someone that would listen to what I needed in what I was going through as well, rather than just push the standard, whatever they push, kind of thing to every other patient. And so I just found that, you know, you ended up getting put in a bucket. Oh, you've got PTSD you're in the PTSD bucket. But what is that? It's so much more like what you went through and you went through and what you went through is not what I went through, but it's not what you went through. Didn't go through the same thing as the other one, either like so everyone's experience and everyone's journey is different. Again, it comes back to that art, right? Like everyone is different. And while the system can tend to like paint people a color, to diagnose them. It doesn't always work.

Kate Cooper 23:26

And we spoke earlier about the hope that flows through your book. And the final section Soul Soar is about belonging, about new beginnings, about creating something positive from a negative experience, and about standing in courage. Which poem have you selected to read from this section, and why?

Paul R Kohn 23:46

So I've selected to read a poem called Grounding. It's really a poem about the importance of being present and the realisation that life is a journey, that every experience, good or bad, is important, and that's what makes us who we are, and it takes me to the beach too, which is one of my favorite places...

So the wind told me to listen carefully to its ebb and flow, to stand tall and lean into it, knowing I am held. To be still, feel its push, let it guide me to my higher self, that I am not alone, never, ever alone. The waves brought me a message. They said, the moon and wind make them what they are. Is what makes them beautiful, powerful in both the calm and the storm. I spoke to the sand, my eyes stinging as the tears streamed down my face. I asked, Why is everything so chaotic when all I crave is calm? 

It replied, the universe will give you what you need, right when you need it, that it is divine in timing, that our choice is to listen, to learn, to grow, just as the trees do towards the light. I... if you could read my skin, you would see every beating, every battering, every scar, every burn I have endured by my own hands or by the careless hands of others. If you could read my palms, you would see every weighted callous, every scratch, every wound that has tried to destroy me, that's made me, you would see every path travelled, every dead end, every decision that led me to a closing, an opening. If you could read my heart, you'd find peace in its pieces, each one full of so much love, so much care, so much truth and authenticity, all of it bleeding out through everything I say and do. 

If you could read my soul, you would discover a universe of love that you have never experienced. And while at times, this has been judged by those who don't understand it as self fulfilling, it is everything but that. It's real and raw without expectation, it is me the sunlight said, although like you, I am sometimes hidden behind heavy clouds, I am always here to warm you when you're cold, to guide you when you lost in the darkness, to bring you home to yourself. And I replied, I was lost and wandering, but I am listening and following. I am grateful for everything, and I am ready to go home.

Kate Cooper 26:31

Thank you, Paul. What we must talk about is your forthcoming Fringe show, a world premiere that you're presenting along with Western Australian creative Sally Newman. There are two shows, both at the Ayres House, State Dining Room, Friday, the 21st of March at 9:10pm, and Saturday, the 22nd of March at 7:30pm - what can audiences expect at this show?

Paul R Kohn 26:56

Well, really, it's a spoken word poetry show with a theatrical twist, I guess so I'll read you the blurb that we've put together for the show... 

She waits in the shadows for his voice to carry her home. He is silent. A mirror reflects. A box is opened, a promise of freedom is whispered. A box is closed. Corners of the room become memories of the past. Dust settles, wind echoes. He finds his voice between breath and Bard. The story unfolds in poetic threads, visual imagery and the raw, emotive spoken words connect audience and poets. Award winning local poet Paul R. Kohn and WA creative Sally Newman bring their world premiered show to the Adelaide fringe. 

This show is for the survivors of darkness, the seekers of hope and those who search for answers in unopened boxes, unexpected moments and unfamiliar dreams. So yeah, it's really, it's a collaborative show. For me. It's a bit of a learning curve with the theatrical side of it, I guess. But yeah, it's really come together well. We're deep in rehearsals at the moment and really looking forward to sharing it fantastic.

Kate Cooper 28:08

And we encourage our listeners to attend. Paul, we've talked about connections, and I've been asking poets on this program to share with us their reflections on being part of the community of spoken word poets in Adelaide. What does this community mean to you?

Paul R Kohn 28:25

Yeah. So the Adelaide poetry community is so great, and so important to me and to so many others in the community as well. And that shines through even in in the poems that people write and share like I've heard some great poems about the poetry community, and I think an example of how I've shown that importance was at my own book launch for soul refraction, I actually asked some other poets to come along. And I guess, given how I have at the time, had been performing online a fair bit, had some interstate poets who and artists who came as well. 

But Tracy Callahan Luke Baker came and shared some of their work at my book launch, as did Scarlet Jay winter from Western Australia, and the artist who did my cover art, mesh guitarna, came across from Western Australia as well. So it really tried to show that poetry is more than just a person. It's community. So yeah, it is something that's really important to me. And I feel like in some ways, COVID made the world smaller, if that makes sense, I was performing in weird and wonderful places, meeting people that I would have never met at all hours of the day during COVID, and even that came to fruition in real life. 

I guess when I did my interstate book tour in october 2023 and another poet from Canada came across and did that tour with me as well. So that was Jeff Cottrell. So yeah, it's a big community, the Adelaide poetry community, but I guess to extend that, my poetry community is pretty massive now, so it's been good.

Kate Cooper 29:57

That's brilliant. And you mentioned Tracy and Luke before. And they've both been guests on this program. Paul, I have another question that I've been asking: how do you go about creating your works? Do you have a favorite place where you like to write, or does it vary?

Paul R Kohn 30:12

I'm quite the spontaneous writer when it's come to music and even when it comes to poetry. So sometimes a line will come to me, and it's usually when I'm running along the beach, and I don't take my phone or a pen and paper, so I'm forced to go and repeat that line or those lines over and over and over in my head, and then run inside and get a piece of paper and write it down. But I actually find that that helps spawn other ideas as well. 

I also, I always tend to write by hand, especially a first draft, because I always find that when I'm editing something, sometimes you break it, and if you've broken it, you can't always go back and see it if you've done it on a computer and just bulk deleted stuff. So yeah, I try and always have a first draft by hand. Yeah, I guess I don't really have a favorite place. It's just when inspiration hits, I have a daily routine, so I do do stream of consciousness, and that often sees some gems come to light. But yeah, I don't have a favourite place, I guess.

Kate Cooper 31:13

Paul, you have a WordPress site, which includes many poems and reflections and also has YouTube and other recordings of your poems that people can listen to. Would you tell our listeners the web address and what else they can access on the site?

Paul R Kohn 31:28

Sure. So my WordPress site is Paul R Kohn... that's P, A, U, L, R, K, O, H, N dot wordpress dot com - and I probably recommend going to the about page first that has a link to all my other social media pages as well. There's some pages on there that list all the books that I've been a part of, all the spoken word events I've been a part of. And then there's a bunch of posts that I've shared that are important milestones to me, I guess. So they're either things I might have still shared on social media pages, but more detail on the website. So yeah, that's... pretty much what that is about. 

Kate Cooper 32:12

Thank you, Paul. Before we finish, would you perform another poem for us? 

Paul R Kohn 32:18

Sure. The last poem I'm going to do is called May Your Future, and I guess it's my parting message to all the listeners... 

May your future shine like the sun, giving warmth and light. May your dreams motivate you to fight for what's right. May your current state be full of strength and might as you travel on your journey, fight your good fight. May the way that you've shattered be turned into good. May it help to guide others as you heal, burn dead wood, learning self worth, self love, reclaiming livelihood, sharing that with others so they know that they too could. 

May your heart have the peace that its pieces desire resonate brighter, leading light, full of heartwarming fire, a Hate Free Zone, full of love that no other soul can mire, impacting humanity positively, always seeking to inspire no matter how far you go, may your heart find a home, may your tribe hold your hand, may they never let go, believing in you always, no matter how far you roam, as you share courage and love with others, together or alone. May your legacy leave the planet a lasting impression when your time comes to walk the stairway to heaven. 

May your words still ring true and help long after you've gone when it's all said and done. May your history live long but until then, May your future shine like the sun, giving warmth and light. May your dreams motivate you to fight for what's right. May your current state be full of strength and might as you travel on your journey, fight your good fight.

Kate Cooper 33:53

Paul, that's a really beautiful message to finish our conversation on. Thank you so much for coming in and talking with us and performing your poetry today.

Paul R Kohn 34:02

Thank you for that, and thank you so much for having me. It's been great. 

Kate Cooper 34:07

Our guest on Emerging Writers today was Paul R. Kohn, creator of music, lyrics and poems. This program is produced in our Adelaide studios, and can be heard at the same time each week here on Vision Australia radio, varadio, on digital, online at varadio.org and also on Vision Australia radio podcasts, where you can catch up on earlier episodes.

Program music 34:39

ID 34:48

Thanks for listening to this Vision Australia radio podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform. Visit varadio.org for more.

VA ID 34:58

Vision Australia. Media, radio, blankness, low vision, opportunity.