Poetry is therapy for Chanute man

Chanute poet Dwain Leon Heilig recently saw his first book of verse hit the press.
After completing the 54-page manuscript, Heilig began to search online for publishing houses.
“I tried large scale publishers, but they weren’t interested,” Heilig said. Further searching led him to PublishAmerica, an on-demand publisher in Maryland that catered to inexperienced authors.
Heilig’s collection is dubbed “uniVERSE.”
The book is described on the PublishAmerica Web site as the “unique insights and ideas of a madman.”
“That was my idea, actually,” Heilig said. “I’m a little crazy after all.”
Heilig said he meant the descriptor both tongue in cheek and seriously.
He suffers from bipolar disorder and writing, he said, “keeps me sane.” In addition to writing, Heilig relies on medication and creating surrealistic art to fend off his bipolar swings.
The 31-year-old Heilig fell back into depression about a year ago after being laid off from Hi-Lo Industries in Chanute, where he had worked for six years building cabinetry for recreational vehicles.
“Its a luxury industry; I understand that,” he said of the downturn in work. Still, the lack of employment got to him.
Publishing “uniVERSE” has “made me feel better and I’m not so depressed,” Heilig said.
Part of his depression comes from having “friends who died over the years,” Heilig said. The writing acts as “a catharsis for me. It gets it out of my head and on paper so I don’t dwell on it.”
More recent writing, he said, “deals with struggles with addiction and abuse.”
Heilig said those burdens are typical for his age group.
“That was my generation — Gen X — alcohol and drugs and the collapse of the family unit, a disillusionment with many things.”
That impact makes his work dark, he said.
“I’ve struggled with spirituality for years,” he said, but “I finally found a spiritual network that makes sense to my world view,” Heilig said. “I’m a Wiccan.”
Wicca is a form of paganism involving ritual use of magic that is loosley based on ancient Celtic practices. Heilig’s interest in the practice reflects his poetic influences. He cites Irish poet William Butler Yeats and Stan Rice as inspirations.
“Yeats was really into mysticism and so am I,” Heilig said. Rice is late husband of vampire novelist Anne Rice.
“I started reading Anne Rice in junior high school and noticed at the beginning of each chapter was a poem by Stan Rice,” Heilig said. He sought out Stan Rice’s poetry. “It was in the free verse form and I really enjoyed it. Yeats is pretty much” also open verse, Heilig said.
Another influence, the English poet and depressive Sylvia Plath, also used free verse.
“In high school I read a lot of Plath,” Heilig said. “A teacher recommended it — I liked the way it was laid out, it was stream of consciousness style open verse.”
Heilig prefers the style.
“I can’t think of words to rhyme ,” he said. “I tried iambic pentameter and different forms of verse and it felt too restrained,” he noted.
He received positive feedback at school, but until recently, did not take his writing seriously. “I just tossed it all.”
With the encouragement of his wife, Tara, he began to save his work. Having found a way to publish it has inspired him to write more, he said.

HEILIG’S life is stable for perhaps the first time.
Born in Winfield, his family moved continuously, following his father’s Navy career, he said.
When his parents divorced, Heilig moved with his mother and brother to Florida, where his mother found work.
“I attended 24 schools before dropping out my junior year of high school,” Heilig said. He completed his General Education Degree the following year.
The family returned to Kansas in 1991 when his grandmother developed dementia. After her death, his mother, Evelena Thomas and her husband Mike, moved to Iola, Heilig said.
His immediate family has expanded to include Tara’s mother, who is housebound, and two dogs.
With support from those around him, Heilig has hope: for his writing, and conquering depression.