What advice would you give a poet? humanodon ? _refugee_? anyone
Advice to a Poet
for William Carlos Williams
First see things as they are: a red wheelbarrow
sweet, cold plums
Then add bias, interpretation: a red useful wheelbarrow
Add nuance: sweeter, colder, plummier plums
Add snow, bitter winds, hands stuffed in pockets turning blue,
Feet tripping over the wheelbarrow, half buried in snow.
Add Elvis singing, “It’s now or never/come hold me tight.”
Add one raised eyebrow, add a fast-beating heart.
Then climb in the wheelbarrow and ride away eating plums.
don't. Advice to a poet: One day you'll understand that parable about the child who realizes her parent used to art and wasn't half bad at it - but then stopped? from the perspective of the papa or the mama and it won't be so sad anymore. and love, change shape over time. They're always there, but they won't always rhyme. Advice to a poet: Advice to a poet: life,
Thanks for the inspiration lil. Anyone, feel free to add to this: rezzeJ, steve, flac, coffeesp00ns, zebra2 Don't give advice to poets They'll be living in your house Before you know it They'll be sharing your bed They'll be filling your head With some nonsense about wind Don't give advice to poets They'll leave you with no words left And you'll know it when you can't say your own name For fear that its a lame expression of your "truth" They're all imagery and meter She'll look cute but you don't need her She'll start wearing your clothes And swear that they're all hers (she'll take your pets her clerics) Don't give advice to (no) poets
The best poets have been torn in half. They gave so much of themselves that they can only speak in verse. But on hard snowy days, stuck inside their parents basement while trying to rebuild their lives, the best poets always remember, That the verse is what rebuilds them.
cW, I recall you reciting the poem that this is referencing to me. Perhaps more than once over the years? Any advice?
I think it's very common for people to try to create something with an expectation of how it will come out. That's not a bad thing necessarily but I feel like often people are limited by their own expectations and end up abandoning or throwing something away because it doesn't turn out how they thought it should. Anyway, one writer who influenced me deeply gave me two pieces of advice. One was just before graduating undergrad. He said, "write a screenplay ". The second piece of advice was given to me when he wrote me a letter of recommendation to law school (which I did not end up going to): "lawyers can write poems too."
We should never let perfection be the enemy of good.
Advice to a poet: Sometimes you will come up with dumb jokes That are too oblong to confide Take thirty minutes to write around it Its limitations will be your guide The more hoops you jump, the more clever Trap yourself onto a side Copy and paste and reiterate At least you can say that you tried There is a dumb secret about language It's mostly that its just wide People are easily impressed As long as your writing shows pride