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Note to Self and Many Poets

Submitted by Eumolpus on Fri, 2018-03-30 15:46

Singers don’t ask why they sing,
Nor painters doubt their coloring;
Dancers don’t complain of pain,
Composers do not hide in shame.
So why do we commiserate?
O, the suffering we endure
To craft a poem that is pure!
How lonely is our chosen path,
Tormented souls who swoon with wrath!
But nobody cares how we take to flight,
So just shut the fuck up, and write.

Last few words: 
Addressing the endless number of poems I read each year whose subject is the act of writing poems. It seems of all the arts, only poets question their validity, and end up preaching to the choir. I have done it a few times, and found they are the least liked poems for readers of poetry. As they say in Italian...Basta!
Editing stage: 
Editing - rough draft

Comments

raj

Fri, 2018-03-30 15:59

your poem certainly is thought provoking as to what is the source of inspiration which makes us write poems..
...................

raj (sublime_ocean)

valene

Fri, 2018-03-30 17:22

it's obvious to all
that every word i've written
they'll harbour in some hall

and i'll be here forever
talked about in schools,
long since you we're able
to grant that yours are stools.

x
v

valene

Fri, 2018-03-30 18:26

as for critique,
the poem you have writ
goes out of tempo
more than a bit
but, though it's hard going,
the message is clear-
you've need of more than
a clip round the ear.

you cheeky monkey.

v
x

IRiz

Sun, 2018-04-01 12:17

IRiz's picture
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Thank you for your sweet deviation from your regular vocabulary. I can see your angry face.
Okay I agree let's just write and also do whatever we want or even more so and then sometime later in the corner of the world on a side of a lost from the last year journal page write a poem.

IRiz

Eumolpus

Sun, 2018-04-01 21:10

Eumolpus's picture

I think sometimes a poem can be one dimensional, with a clear and simple objective. Strangely, of the thousands of poems and translations by Pound, this is his most published work. just sayin...

A Pact
I make a pact with you, Walt Whitman -
I have detested you long enough.
I come to you as a grown child
Who has had a pig-headed father;
I am old enough now to make friends.
It was you that broke the new wood,
Now is a time for carving.
We have one sap and one root -
Let there be commerce between us.

;;

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

author comment

IRiz

Sun, 2018-04-01 23:48

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I agree

IRiz

weirdelf

Thu, 2018-05-31 14:14

weirdelf's picture
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It's bloody hard work to do well, it requires discipline (a word that invariably gives me a nasty little rash) and an oft resented inner drive. But I dislike writers who whine about it even more. Good poem, a good ole whinge does the soul a power of good so we can get back to out 'art and sullen craft'.

You know I have an affinity with the trickster gods and they sure played one on us. I also enjoy an unhealthy dose of profanity and hard truth. Thanks for this one.

Oh, one point of factual error, bloody dancers never stop whining about the pain, but theirs is physical, for ballerinas, with time, crippling.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

Eumolpus

Thu, 2018-05-31 20:56

Eumolpus's picture

Much thanks for stopping by and commenting on my recent posts, means a lot to me!

Too many poets in the modern age over use the theme of being a poet is a major theme. For many start up poets, that's all they write about. It can get tiring. Non poets really are not interested.
Mature poets already know what a difficult task it is, in an act so unrewarded in our culture.
So yes, fuck it, just write.

Personally I've had the good fortune of having many close friends who are dancers- I lost a very good friend Miguel Gudrot who was married to Judith Jamison and was at one time the lead dancer at Alvin Ailey. He passed from AIDS. I went to many parties and affairs and honesty I never heard complaints, just the reality of the dangers. The ones I've met are like rugby players!

lastly, as an Aussie, check out this I found recently!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pwghabw4N80?rel=0

;;

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

author comment

weirdelf

Thu, 2018-05-31 22:51

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Yeah, man, my bad. I've been focussing a bit on newbies and undiscovered poets, not to mention Neodramas and my own issues and been depriving myself of some of the better class of poet here. I've made a resolution to do my myself and hopefully yourselves some justice and spread my critique around a bit more. Been missing you, Jane, Sparrow, Kelsey, Chris, Nick and many more fine poets.
oo, oo, check out Rottiestyl. https://www.neopoet.com/rottiestyl She was very active years back, a fine outspoken poet. We had some fine biffos. She just posted 2 poems last October after a long absence and it would be neat if she came back.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

scribbler

Thu, 2018-05-31 18:40

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You forget singers. "Turn the page" comes to mind........stan

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