Writing Poetry

Writing poetry is no different from most other writing unless your choice is to write rhymed verse and then all I can do is wish you well and offer no advice. I don't work in rhyme. I'm not good enough . . . either that or I really do find the structure too strictured. Ho!

My prejudice is that writing is more craft than principal, more needful of being done than being studied. For those who subscribe to the flattery that a degree from the Iowa Writer's Program is requisite to publication, I would only ask how our Twains and Dickens's were delivered without this badge of recognition. Take back Shakespeare and cash him in.

For myself, I do not like to read poetry but I rather love the writing of it. This is unlike fiction and commentary, both of which I love to read as well as write. I don't know what to make of that.

• And I Write
  A short piece about the need for constancy of process in (my) writing.
• Between the Lights
  There was a time when all the TV folk came to Prague to do the writing community. It was really strange.
• Broken Pieces
  I particularly like this poem, because it frames a truth that many writers may find common.
• Clear in the Moment
  It is a plain craft when it's done well.
• Complete / Incomplete
  A poem about the completion of prose.
• Easy
  It takes a Pro to procrastinate.
• Fishing Trip
  Well, I am a fisherman and find the comparison of fishing and writing shares that unique combination of anticipation and patience.
• Four at Thirty
  Alphabetized, this poem embarrasses by connecting to the hunting metaphor. For the non-hunter, the title suggests a four-foot lead at thirty yards when properly shotgunning.
• The Hard Part
  Selling the product of writing.
• Heard From Him?
  Somewhat self-analytic and shamelessly forgiving.
• In Futures
  If you believe, as I do, that a long life is but a string of moments . . . you may like this poem.
• Interruption
  The writer looking over his shoulder, unwilling to be stopped in mid-line.
• It Comes and Goes
  My writing mind runs sometimes in prose, others in poetry.
• It's the Cigarettes
  The secret, common drug of the writing community.
• Last Time
  There is indeed, a last time for everything.
• Muddy Waters
  A short piece on literary agents.
• My Kid
  My inner kid needs play time and this poem is all about that.
• Not Fiction
  A poem about the process of prose.
• Paul
  Hearing the voice of my poet friend as I read his work.
• Polemic
  Getting hooked on a word and not hearing much else until it's defined.
• Pools of Words
  Metaphor takes me to water and the long strokes of a canoe paddle.
• Position Open
  A tongue-in-cheek ad for writers.
• Proper Critic
  Spoofing literary criticism.
• A Quiet Smoke
  Denigrating my own work.
• Reading Poetry
  Yeah well, sometimes it's like this.
• Rekindling
  The question of what, really, is original thought and if there is such a thing.
• Says He's Bored
  Boredom signals time for a change.
• Standing Away
  Sometimes the work is in not working.
• Stuart Isn't Here
  This poem and the next, about a great friend and writer.
• Stuart Promised Me
  Stop all the getting ready and just do it.
• The Stove is Elsewhere
  A personal favorite of mine, a treatise on why it's not a good idea to cook and write simultaneously.
• Tired Mind
  This writer's fears come mostly at night.
• To Trade it All Away
  The joy of being anonymous, that we would so eagerly trade away for fame.
• Uneven Deal
  The unfair economics of writing versus reading.
• The Waiter's Eye
  If you figure this one out, let me know your take on it.
• Whiskey Breath
  Another personal favorite poem that thinks about unintended plagarism.