Today, I worked on a poem
struggled with recalcitrant words and stumbling phrases
for hours. While I was writing, I did not weed the garden
vacuum the house or wash the dishes. I stared at blank white
and scribbled and re-scribbled the same words over and over,
rearranging them, just a little, a tweak there, a word added,
another subtracted. All the time, I worried
about how to make the poem sing and how to get the chores
done and would anyone even care. Why was I doing it,
anyway? You can't pay someone to hear or read a poem.
If they listen, grudgingly, do they understand? Who has time
for poetry when there is television and internet?
I feel guilty. I'm afraid I am wasting time. But wait,
this would be so much better if I just deleted
that darned cliche.
Mary Stebbins Taitt
Friday, May 08, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment