Lines written upon discovering that too much time has been spent thinking about how to write instead of actually writing

Rosemary

I need not consider these things.
I should not always wait to wonder.

What’s a question? A question about
One’s self is like a hat. Put it on, take it
off, depending on the weather.

The point is to go despite the weather.
Wrap yourself up; it’s cold outside.
Bring extra water — the heat, you know, always
The heat.

The down vest packs small if you squeeze.
The clever little kit: pot, pan, plate, utensils
Folded together and locked not to rattle.

You can roll out your bed in the rain.
You can stagger in the wind, your open coat a sail.
If you can stand the bugs, there will be stars.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at 11:53 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Lines written upon discovering that too much time has been spent thinking about how to write instead of actually writing”

  • Victoria Janssen Says:
    July 12th, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    Lovely.

    • Rosemary Says:
      July 12th, 2010 at 2:35 pm

      Victoria —

      Thanks….

      I’ve never considered myself any kind of poet. It’s just that I’ve noticed that recently some of my thoughts are falling into poem-shaped forms. And when I look at them, they seem to say what I want to say, so what the heck.

      Why this is happening recently, I don’t know.

      But it does make me think about something I read — can’t remember who said it, maybe W.H. Auden? Judson Gerome? Hm. One of those poets, writing about poetry. If I could remember the exact wording, I could google it. But I can’t.

      Anyway the gist of it was that in order for someone to write a poem, there needs to be some sort of impediment to communication. That is, if you could say what you wanted to say and have it understood, you’d just say it. But because you can’t, because there’s something in the way, you use poetry.

      I haven’t quoted that well, or possibly even correctly. I’ll see if I can find the right quote, later.

      But what I took away from the quote when I first came across it, ages ago, was the idea that there would be something in the way; that you’d have to work around it; and that the techniques you use to do that end up generating poetry.

      I certainly don’t believe that’s always the case, or even most often the case. But I do think that it’s one way that people turn to writing poetry.

      So, what could possibly be impeding my communication at the moment, such that I must turn to poetry? Could it be this incredible tangle of knotted yarn which is calling itself my next novel?

      Can sheer frustration be driving me to poetry?

      So… okay.

      And once I’ve got a poem-shaped thing, what the heck – post it! Can’t tell if it sucks or not? So what?

      This is part of my new philosophy of Be a Lot Braver Than You Have Been in the Past Before It’s Too Late.

      I’ll report back later on how that’s working out for me…