Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Perseverance As a Vehicle for Poetry

All this waiting for inspiration—
Sheer boredom for headstrong tyros,
I tell you. At breakneck speed they keep
Veering off the main branch
And over the nearest cliff in hot pursuit
Of a breathtaking view.

Left in the lurch, we
Older lemmings have to play it cool,
Idling on the edge
Steady as she goes, simply
Hanging in there,
Taking in the view.

3 comments:

  1. I'm with you, my furry friend—though I am incapable of writing regimens, which makes me half tyro, I suppose. If only I could manage an almost daily practice like yours or Michaelian's or Hannah Stephenson's or one of my new favorites, Melissa Allen's over at Red Dragonfly. When my wizened little genius doesn't appear, I languish, and if I try to write, he sends me mocking text messages from whatever cliff-edge he goes to for R&R....

    ReplyDelete
  2. spendin
    g
    so much time

    get ting ready

    the rest
    merely
    watc-jing (my)
    thinking

    come & go

    OPPPPPPPSSSSSS .....
    there went another brilliant .....poem!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joe,

    Well, I'm not so great at following regimens as this poem might suggest; the only one I'm still true to is my daily morning ablutions of two galvanized buckets full of water left out overnight, the contents of which I duly proceed to empty over my naked frame--good morning!

    Thanks for sending along the links but I'm curious--who is this Michaelian guy, anyway?

    Ed,

    Our mutual friend, John Levy, is the only one I know persevering enough to get up every day at 5.30 and write something before going to work.

    My thanks to the both of you for commenting.

    ReplyDelete

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