Rules are all around us. Nearly every moment of every day, we are presented with the choice of whether to follow the rules or break them. When at a street intersection, do you come to a complete stop or a rolling stop? Do you say please and thank you whenever you interact with an [...]

Of course poem size matters. It’s not everything, but it matters. And its function — focus, people, we’re talking poetry here — makes excellent fodder for a discussion about the writing process.
A recent Read Write Poll revealed that most of us have written poems of two or more pages, including several who have written [...]

Splash some water on my face. Pick me up off the floor. I am in shock over the last Read Write Poll! For the first time since I’ve been doing this dance on this very stage, the answers of my fellow Read Write Poemers have completely surprised me. For over a week, you’ve had a [...]

Wouldn’t it be cool if we were super heroes with super secret identities? The man of steel disguises himself as Clark Kent, lowly reporter for The Daily Planet. Shy photographer Peter Parker is the regular guy shtick that belongs to Spiderman.
We could do the same thing! Slick back our hair, button up our shirts, [...]

I love the phrase: “smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em.” It’s more colloquial than carpe diem, and it’s a cowboy version of laisser-faire.
It’s also a very colorful, concise way to say, “Do what you want when the mood strikes you,” and “If you have something at your disposal you can use, go right ahead.”
As [...]

What time is it, Read Write Poemers? It’s time to Get Your Poem On, the only reason in the world to look forward to Mondays.
As a poet, this week, I asked you to avert your eyes no longer, to look at those scenes and accidents you’re not supposed to see. Now it’s time to [...]

Let’s be rubberneckers this week. Gawkers. Extreme voyeurs.
I have a distinct memory of being a kid on a road trip with my parents. We were crossing the bridge from Maine into New Hampshire, and we passed a terrible accident. Mashed up cars. Rescue vehicles. Sheets. My mother made us duck our heads. She forbid [...]

John Cougar Mellencamp wasn’t talking about poetry when he released the song “Hurt So Good” on his American Fool album (1982), but I sometimes think of good poetry that way. It hurts so good.
I didn’t know from memory the year of the album (which also features a little diddy about Jack and Diane). I [...]

I have two poems-in-progress right now. One is about aliens, visitors from other galaxies. The other has something to do with Hemingway. Neither aliens nor Hemingway is on the list of choices for the current poll. Apparently there are other things to write about, as you’ve all pointed out in your generous responses. (I’m [...]

How do you know when a poem is finished? (And by “finished” I don’t mean “doomed;” I mean “completed.”) It’s a question every poet struggles with, and the possible answers are endless: A finished poem is one somewhere between “just started” and “beaten to death.” A finished poem is one that survives the trash [...]