My last five posts of 2016 will be reruns of the five most viewed poems on this site during the year. Number two made its debut here in March.
How to Write a Poem
Learn to curse in three languages. When midday
yawns stack high and your eyelids flutter, fire up
the chain saw; there’s always something to dismember.
Make it new. Fear no bridges. Accelerate through
curves, and look twice before leaping over fires,
much less into them. Read bones, read leaves, read
the dust on shelves and commit to memory a thousand
discarded lines. Next, torch them. Take more than you
need, buy books, scratch notes in the dirt and watch
them scatter down nameless alleys at the evening’s first
gusts. Gather words and courtesies. Guard them carefully.
Play with others, observe birds, insects and neighbors,
but covet your minutes alone and handle with bare hands
only those snakes you know. Mourn the kindling you create
and toast each new moon as if it might be the last one
to tug your personal tides. When driving, sing with the radio.
Always. Turn around instead of right. Deny ambition.
Remember the freckles on your first love’s left breast.
There are no one-way streets. Appreciate the fragrance
of fresh dog shit while scraping it from the boot’s sole.
Steal, don’t borrow. Murder your darlings and don’t get
caught. Know nothing, but know it well. Speak softly
and thank the grocery store clerk for wishing you
a nice day even if she didn’t mean it. Then mow the grass,
grill vegetables, eat, laugh, wash dishes, talk, bathe,
kiss loved ones, sleep, dream, wake. Do it all again.
Love love this!!
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Thank you!
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Murder your darlings and don’t get caught…yes sir! That will do it. All best and happy new year to you and yours. I hope you’ll stop by and visit sometime. Haven’t seen you in awhile
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The same to you! And yes, I’ll visit soon – have been reading your tweets more, lately.
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Cool, good to hear from you. I get nervous when my buddies get quiet ! Hope things are well there, allbest-
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“Take more than you
need, buy books, scratch notes in the dirt and watch…”
Yes! A staccato sonnet (14 syllables)! ❤
And… best advice ever!
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Ha! It works for me, or at least it has thus far. 😐
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Very clever and funny, loved it.
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Thanks very much, Barb. So pleased you found it so.
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Thanks for stopping by. I must say your creativity is a treat to my eyes and heart. God bless:)
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It was my pleasure. And thank you for returning the favor.
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My reason for beginning to write poetry years ago was that my typewriter broke. True. My handwriting is so bad that I couldn’t finish working on a short story. By the time I got my typewriter fixed, I was hooked, especially since I was getting my poetry publlished.
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Now that’s a great reason! I started out writing fiction, but poetry found me instead.
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I had a feeling it might be something like that. Wonderful Robert – all the best for the new year. May you toast many a new moon.
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Thanks, Chris. Cheers to new moons and years!
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Love this! And I thought you were going to talk about technique!! (<: Thank You!!
Dwight
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Thanks, Dwight!
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Pingback: Countdown: #2, How to Write a Poem — O at the Edges | Wanda D. Jefferson
This is so cool! haha! Happy New Year Robert
! To more words and feelings to be written (rhyming or not)! To poetry and beyond! cheers to 2017!🙂
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Thank you! Cheers!
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They should teach this in schools. Happy New Year Robert, and thank you for reminding us all how it’s done.
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Many thanks, Edwin, and Happy New Year to you, too.
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Best advice – “Murder your darlings but don’t get caught.” Delightful read!
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Thank you, Susanne. It was fun to write.
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Have you any idea … I hope you don’t … I should not say, but I must – how good words are in the order you put them? Put more and more in order, poet, until the order fails you!
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Sometimes they fall in place, sometimes it takes a crowbar and sledge hammer…
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The tools are irrelevant. I leave that to the workman.
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I prefer that approach, too.
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Each tug of my personal tide is a new well for me to tap.
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Well put, Ken. And there’s so much to catch our attentions!
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