Help Me, I'm A Poet

I’m a poet.  In some circles a confession like that is equivalent to admitting that one is a degenerate of the worst sort.  At a conference of MFA’s those who are unfortunate enough to pursue the poetic arts are shunted off to small corners of a dark room where they are left to indulge in their esoteric language of iambs, tropes and pentameters.  I don’t even have the academic credentials of those cornered poets.  Out in the real world admitting to poetry is admitting to a wastrel’s life.  “There’s no money in poetry” is the mantra.  “Get a job” follows close behind.

There are young folks in a couple of my writing groups (similar to group therapy but with homework) who write poetry though they usually have day jobs.  Some teach, some do research and others occupy cubicles where they push around multiple pieces of virtual paper.  There are the rare few who have a sponsor and are therefore allowed to write full time.  I fall somewhere in between.  My working life came to a close when I reached sixty.  Since then I’ve survived through the kindness and generosity of my dear wife, with a little help from social security.  During my working life I wrote poetry and stories and articles but I never tried to get published or in any other way recognized.

Now that has changed.  I write most every day for at least a few hours.  Sometimes, when I’m on a creative roll, I might even put in eight hours broken up into two or three hour segments.  When I get enough finished poetry I send it off to various publishing houses, literary journals and poetry competitions.  Rejection is my constant companion.  My successes so far have been limited.  I had a top ten finish in the Margaret Atwood Poetry Contest last year.  I was a runner-up for first place in the William Faulkner Writing Competition; Poetry Division, also last year.  I’ve had a few poems published here and there, none with remuneration.  And I had ten poems in an anthology published by an independent publisher who subsequently cheated all the contributors by not living up to our contract in any way.  This year, nearly finished as it is, has seen less success than last year.  I have had several poems make short-list and semi-finalist lists.  But I have had only one piece make the finals of a competition.  The results on that contest are due in a couple weeks.

It’s not a Tom Clancy or James Patterson world for a would-be senior citizen poetic soul.  So why do I do it, is the rhetorical question.  Well, I write because I feel inspired to write.  I write to say things that, for some reason, seem important.  That’s not a very humble statement I suppose.  I also write for the joy of seeing words work themselves into the shape of a poem that might provide a glimpse of beauty or an atom of rational meaning.  And on some days I write just to amuse my own rather challenged intellect.

But I’m serious about this poetry stuff.  I read a lot.  I’ve almost exhausted the poetry section of our local library and I’m re-reading my favorites.  Some days I get online and read poetry on various literary sites.  I read the poetry of my writing group friends and write commentary on their work.  And I read articles about writing and critical works about many, many great poets.  My academic credentials are non-existent but I have studied the art and craft of poetry.

So here we are, finally, at the reason for this little article.  I’m setting up a new blog page which will be devoted to poetry.  More specifically it will be used as a modest showcase for my own work and will link to other poets as well.  Now and then you’ll see on Facebook that a new poem or article is posted on the soon to be named poetry blog.  If you like poetry check it out and see if it has any value.  If you don’t like poetry check it out anyway and give me a chance to change your mind.  I promise no flowery verse, no obscure Greek or Roman mythological references, no confusing language or messages buried in five layers of metaphor.  Nope, it’s all plain talk in short poetic lines.  I’m a specialist in short lines.  So when you see the announcement of the new blog check it out.  You’ll be glad you did.

Now have a fine day and find a poem to read.