Someone wrote to me recently and asked, How do I get my poems published? Man, I wish I could tell you. I wish I could say, just keep writing them, and honing them and, keep at it, and don’t give up; except that isn’t how it works. Poetry, nothing really, is that simple. It gotContinue reading “On Writing Poems – part 5 – How to Get Published”
Category Archives: poetry
Buying Poetry
The last poetry-related journal entry I posted was about getting rid of a collection of books, and coming to terms with the ramifications of that now, decades later. One of the points was that I find myself here today, a poet with few books of poetry at hand. If you want to know a bitContinue reading “Buying Poetry”
On Writing Poems – part 4 – Copying
I’ve already proposed you should steal. Now I’m going to encourage you to copy. A lesson I think is quite valuable to keep in mind when attempting to write poetry is to look at other crafts, other arts, and other pursuits for inspiration in regards to systems and ways of thinking, and of process. Let’sContinue reading “On Writing Poems – part 4 – Copying”
Selling Rare Books
Life seems to come in fits and starts. I doubt my experience is unusual in that regard. I seem to uncover truths, meaningful to me in certain moments of clarity, which lead me to a deeper understanding (or the illusion of a deeper understanding) of self; moments like lighthouses defining just enough of the worldContinue reading “Selling Rare Books”
On Writing Poems – part 3 – stealing
Stealing. In part one I wrote about poetry as a practice, and touched on using your body as an instrument in that practice. Part two was about facing the blank page, and using a simple structure, the I Remember Poem, to generate text so you can then begin to craft a poem in your regularContinue reading “On Writing Poems – part 3 – stealing”
White Privilege Day
On Writing Poems – part 2 – facing the blank page
Part 1 of this series focused on the idea of practice. That writing poems can be a regular, daily routine, and that a regular practice of editing, repeatedly, is how to nurture your words into poems. Poems rarely come like gifts in the mail. They take work and craft and practice. I started part oneContinue reading “On Writing Poems – part 2 – facing the blank page”
On Writing Poems – part 1 – establish practice
Do you want to write poems? Do you already write poems? Sometimes writing poems is easier than other times. Important to writing poetry is incorporating the mindset of having a practice. Make poetry a routine part of your day. I like to compare it to weeding in the garden, which is a practice. In theContinue reading “On Writing Poems – part 1 – establish practice”
On Reading Poems
Sometimes I’m reminded that not everybody comes to poems on their own, and that poems can be confusing without a framework of how to go about reading and enjoying them. Here’s how I’ve come to read poems: a poem is a stand of woods you’d like to walk through. Usually there is a trailhead, startContinue reading “On Reading Poems”
Mountain Biker’s Prayer
To be undressed at the Subaru’s hatch, pulling on shorts and peering into the woods for trails and sounds of life and signs of riding. To lube chain and dial-in brakes, shifting, saddle height, alone at the trailhead or with buddies, talking smack, sneaking a hit, stretching legs. To attack the trail and climb immediatelyContinue reading “Mountain Biker’s Prayer”
Chris Bevens | pedalpoet 