Comments on: poetry advice column: how can you be a poet every day?

By: considering the other: things that get in the way of writing « Read Write Poem

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:16:41 +0000

[...] actually wrote this post before reading Robert Peake’s column. It may as well have been in dialogue. Seems we might have a mutual [...]

By: Monkey Grinding Out More Poems – pesbo

Monkey Grinding Out More Poems – pesbo — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:11:44 +0000

[...] At ReadWritePoem, Robert Peake How do you be a poet every day? [...]

By: uchenduka

uchenduka — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:23:14 +0000

How to be a poet every day? Be willing to trip often and make a fool of yourself.Be shameless! Stay humble and proud at the same time.

By: Evelyn N. Alfred

Evelyn N. Alfred — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:55:14 +0000

This was great to read.

By: Robert Peake

Robert Peake — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:48:33 +0000

Neil–thanks for taking these thoughts and making them your own. Now go write something!

By: Neil Reid

Neil Reid — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:50:01 +0000

There are abundant reasons not to write – my toast is too dry, the sun didn’t come out today, or it did. Plenty. Why do I like to go for walks? Because I have feet! Sometimes I comfort myself in this way – I’m not a poet but simply a man who writes poems. I agree with both Stafford and you, Robert, that the question is most by our nature not why do I write, but why don’t we all write? Some big, some small, but I think no less of the smallest flowers in my garden, and maybe especially the ones that got there by themselves without my hand. Why shouldn’t I encourage that same process within myself?

And I still keep finding lines I’ve drawn in the sand – and erasing them when I can. I find more poetry that way, in everything.

Thank you for this thoughtful and encouraging article Robert.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:53:18 +0000

Johannes, I agree that musing about whatit “means” to be a poet is not very useful. More important, to me, are the practical steps I take each day to keep in touch with the poetic mindset.

By: Johannes Beilharz

Johannes Beilharz — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:19:26 +0000

“How do you be a poet every day?” sounds strange. How about “How are you a poet every day?”

I am one every day, just like I’m also other things, like a cook when I cook and a reader when I read.

My take as an old dog is not to muse too much about what it means to be a poet. Just be it and do it.

By: Kristen McHenry

Kristen McHenry — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:38:36 +0000

I love your approach, jmcneely! I think more us could learn from your way of doing things.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:34:54 +0000

@jmcneely–poetry and philosophy have a lot in common. As one of my mentors, Marvin Bell, is fond of saying, they are both “survival skills.” But constructing a philosophy that is useful to oneself, and communicating that to others, are two very different matters. The same seems true with poetic feeling. There are many ways of living, and of writing. Ultimately, I think it’s the living that counts.

@Allan–happy to be here! Thanks.

By: Allan Cox

Allan Cox — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:59:03 +0000

Bravo, Bravissimo. Pleased you’re part of the scene here!

Best,

Allan

By: jmcneely

jmcneely — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:38:47 +0000

I was actually thinking about this yesterday. For me, poetry isn’t primarily about words, nor is the birth of a poem primarily about writing. It is about a search for truth, a doable daily search for insight into some great truth about life or being human. The words come as a way to artfully communicate that insight. A metaphor must be about something. So I am not looking for a prompt to WRITE, I am looking for a prompt to think, to feel, to know, and thus the words, the metaphor, the focus, comes. Coming here, I am confronted with people who think about writing as writing, and I began to doubt my own ‘hothouse flower’ approach, and upon reflection, I am just like that, and I want to continue to foster it. Maybe that means it isn’t even poetry, but some kind of versed philosophy or something. I guess I don’t mind.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:49:41 +0000

@Shayla–chow down! Glad it was helpful.

@Kristen–yes, it can be hard in a culture that values product over process to see that all time spent writing is time well spent. It’s something I struggle with, too.

@Therese–Your thoughts on commitment remind me of the Scottish Explorer W.H. Murray’s quote: “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.” Whether you call it providence, luck, or the muse, commitment is key.

By: Therese L. Broderick

Therese L. Broderick — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:35:03 +0000

Excellent, thought-provoking yet also so helpful in its practical advice. I respect the seriousness with which you took the question and your answers. This article is a wake-up call to me to get more serious about writing, reading, managing time, and behaving like a committed poet. This insight is wonderful: “It is a dare against reductionism…” Thank you.

By: Kristen McHenry

Kristen McHenry — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:13:59 +0000

Thanks for the great article, Robert! I especially appreciated the advice to think of writing as taking pictures with a camera–sometimes you may only get one or two good shots per roll, but you have to be willing to burn that much film to get them. Sometimes I can get caught up in feeling like I’m failing if my scribblings don’t lead directly to a completed poem, but I know do so much better when I write from a relaxed place, without expectation. I have a file filled with half-written poems that never really worked out, and I mine it regularly for snippets to fit into other poems, or for phrases or ideas to use when starting a new piece. So it helps to remember that in the end, as long I’m writing regularly, no effort is ever wasted.

By: How to be a Poet Every Day | Robert Peake

How to be a Poet Every Day | Robert Peake — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:31:15 +0000

[...] poetry is a product, being a poet is, to me, a worthwhile and lifelong pursuit. In my latest column for Read Write Poem, I dig beneath the question of writing daily, to answer how one can, in fact, engage life as a poet [...]

By: Shayla

Shayla — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:59:35 +0000

Thanks for this. I was feeling uninspired today, and you’ve given me some gourmet food for thought.