A Poem About Writing

I don't often post my poems because as a rule they are subjective to the reader, and most people don't like reading them, unless they too are poets,or enjoy reading poetry. It's why I won't publish a book of poetry--it'll just be an exercise in a pathetic waste of time. But this poem is about writing and I actually came across it in an old notebook. I wrote it in 2005. (They call poems about poetry "Ars Poetica".)

Poems are
the relentless current
a seductive stimuli
footprints across the page
anyone can leave behind
where ink is the water
and the waves are our thin
swift dreams...
poems, like our personal struggles,
in a swift current that snag
on rocks, eventually
freed
until the next logjam

I discovered poetry and had help in learning how to write them (not that I'm great at it), from the book The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser a Poet Laureate. The book was helpful where most were not. I recommend it to anyone who wants to write better poems. I've had several of my poems published soon after I read this book and worked on my poetry using his advice. I couldn't have done it without Ted. But I never could achieve my hope to have a poem published in ByLine. Oh well... it no longer matters to me. I've got a blog where I can post and anyone who wishes may read and enjoy.

Here is one more very short one it's called
A Page of Latte
Words stare back at me,
Unblinking, black on white.
They won't bow, won't budge
The syntax is obstinate!
There's no imagery, no form
It's like squeezing water
from cork board.
Ink leaks from my finger tips,
I put them to my lips...
Tastes a lot like latte.

On that note I want to let you know I am expanding my blogs to a new one called "A Page of Latte" Here I hope to not only share my poetry, but also invite anyone (yes, anyone), to share their poetry, or troubles with it, if they wish, and discuss (if desired), how to improve upon it. I will introduce certain types of poetry--like the "Tanka", which is similar but different from Haiku, and darn fun to work on.

I'm going to also post some notes from various places where I've learned a few things about writing poetry. I've been writing poetry (on and off) for decades and my first ones were really crappy, so don't think yours could be anywhere near as crappy as mine, if you are just starting out. I want to encourage anyone, beginners and more experienced poets to come and share your thoughts, and get in on the discussion. I'm also going to offer guest posts, too. So come and have a look-see, or at least give me a good send off, in the very least. It's going to be bare bones right now, but it will evolve into a nice little nook for poets. I hope!

So, come and join me if you wish here is the link: A Page of Latte

My hope for this blog is to continue on writing themes, and what I'm working on. I may post some basics here in coming weeks--this is for newer/beginning writers. So, I hope to see some new faces here in the next few weeks and I invite everyone to check out my new blog A Page of Latte.

Thank you for following me here, and commenting every once in a while. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and we will chat in the coming New Year!

It's looking a bit like this outside today...