the art of poetry for dummies part 1
Mar. 7th, 2019 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
betteroffbaddo you want to write more poetry?
sure we all do
start with a list of five things you did today
see if you can make the list rhyme to start out with for example:
i made lunch
I wasted time a bunch
I read a book
I gave some dataless trend stories a dirty look
I swept the floor so it wouldn't crunch
millions of people have written poetry throughout the ages
their insights and emotions litter the ground like the skins of cicadas
you don't even realize you are walking on poetry when you walk on them
or breathing it in when you breathe
keep your mind open
these ghosts have nowhere else to go
they cannot howl without your help
they need your words to rattle for their chains
be patient toward all that is unresolved
especially bills they can take care of themselves
remember the poets who died without paying anyone
you don't have to be like them but you do have to write down their names
now take that list you made earlier don't tell me you forgot
arrange each thing as the corner of a square like this
made lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . timebunch
. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . swept away crunch
read book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dirtylook
drive a nail into each corner phrase
drive a very large nail into the phrase at the center
take your string i hope you remembered string I didn't bring any extra
and tie it to the nail that sings most convincingly of your day so far
that will be your anchor phrase
the heart to which you must return
along with all the others only this one is the first
now weave the string i hope you brought enough string this could take several hundred feet of string
up and around each nail in a pattern
the muses will reveal to you only through trial and error
the trial will be part of the poem and so will the error
the muses will tell you when to stop and if they don't
they're probably just distracted it's not easy being a muse
just keep going until the string runs out
congratulations
you have written a poem
it doesn't look like much but most things are ugly in the beginning
think of baby birds for example
where would poets be without them
if you didn't bring any string you can use your own hair
some poeple think that's more authentic but I disagree
authenticity is a myth of the machine age
now put your poem somewhere safe such as under a bush
or in the pocket of a jacket that is hanging in the breakroom
of one of the stores you don't shop at. let it stay there indefinitely.
poetry is the art of patience
now you know what poetry is the art of
this concludes your first lesson in poetry
sure we all do
start with a list of five things you did today
see if you can make the list rhyme to start out with for example:
i made lunch
I wasted time a bunch
I read a book
I gave some dataless trend stories a dirty look
I swept the floor so it wouldn't crunch
millions of people have written poetry throughout the ages
their insights and emotions litter the ground like the skins of cicadas
you don't even realize you are walking on poetry when you walk on them
or breathing it in when you breathe
keep your mind open
these ghosts have nowhere else to go
they cannot howl without your help
they need your words to rattle for their chains
be patient toward all that is unresolved
especially bills they can take care of themselves
remember the poets who died without paying anyone
you don't have to be like them but you do have to write down their names
now take that list you made earlier don't tell me you forgot
arrange each thing as the corner of a square like this
made lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . timebunch
. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . swept away crunch
read book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dirtylook
drive a nail into each corner phrase
drive a very large nail into the phrase at the center
take your string i hope you remembered string I didn't bring any extra
and tie it to the nail that sings most convincingly of your day so far
that will be your anchor phrase
the heart to which you must return
along with all the others only this one is the first
now weave the string i hope you brought enough string this could take several hundred feet of string
up and around each nail in a pattern
the muses will reveal to you only through trial and error
the trial will be part of the poem and so will the error
the muses will tell you when to stop and if they don't
they're probably just distracted it's not easy being a muse
just keep going until the string runs out
congratulations
you have written a poem
it doesn't look like much but most things are ugly in the beginning
think of baby birds for example
where would poets be without them
if you didn't bring any string you can use your own hair
some poeple think that's more authentic but I disagree
authenticity is a myth of the machine age
now put your poem somewhere safe such as under a bush
or in the pocket of a jacket that is hanging in the breakroom
of one of the stores you don't shop at. let it stay there indefinitely.
poetry is the art of patience
now you know what poetry is the art of
this concludes your first lesson in poetry
