How Not to Write a Poem

  

  

This is in response to a Brave Blogging prompt, to write a poem in less than ten minutes. The first draft was done in less than ten minutes, but there was some considerable revision. Another prompt was to write a "how to" piece, which, of course, elicited my contrary self. I ended up writing two; I will post the second tomorrow.

   

How Not to Write a Poem

 

Keep busy. Clean the house.

Empty the kitchen cabinets.

Scrub them out. Put it all back.

Organize the junk drawer.

 

No music. No dancing.

No long walks unless talking

and texting with friends

at the same time.

 

Read a light novel. Or two.

Or three. Do not read poems.

Watch the news. Get angry.

Go shopping. Drive fast.

 

Avoid introspection. Do not meditate.

Ignore your dreams. Always do two

or three things at once. Watch

television while on the internet.

 

Pay no attention to non-human

animals. Stay out of the woods.

Avoid gardens, lakes, strange

neighborhoods, and the sea.

 

At all costs avoid the sea.

Develop an active social life.

Resist solitude. Party hard.

Don’t wake up.

~ sharon brogan / 18 september 02016

I think of my poems as truthful – not factual – fiction. Have I ever scrubbed out the kitchen cabinets as a way to avoid writing? Absolutely not. I have, however, been known to organize a junk drawer. 

Have I missed some useful strategies? Please add them to the comments!

   
 

Comments

[teresa]

Always be so busy you have no time for your inspiring neighbor...

[Sharon Ryals Tamm]

Play Scrabble with yourself holding the deluxe board in your lap and the bag of tiles and your scrabble dictionary tucked into the easy chair by your side while watching the world series on TV with the sound off. Ignore it if the words that show up on the board look like a poem