A Poet's Confession

It is like a drunk or addict reaching that 'so called' stopping off point. That point where one can't imagine life with or without the fix. Writing is like that. Obsessive, progressive, addictive. A fix. Scribes need it to 'feed the rat.' Recently I have felt overwhelmed reading all of the BFAs and MFAs out there, being at most an amateur ham and egger myself. Writers all strive arduously to organize words into some form or message that people enjoy. That touches them. That they identify with. I've dreamt of hearing, "Ahh, your words meant so much to me!" And, immediately I fall into delusional dreams of people swooning. This helplessly addicted novice would be left to wallow, pro tempore, in the juices of their nouveau riche, yet auspicious skills? It is simply not like that though, people! Most of the time writing is line by line, meter by meter, and word beside word. Then edit, clip, and rewrite. And all of that to be a novice 'ham and egger.' Look at E.E. Cummings, James Agee, Carl Sandburg, Ernest Dowson, Gana Gioia. All of them capable of writing something complete, abiding, and significant in less than sixty words. So significant that one can return to read and reflect upon the words all the years of a life. No chance of my ever writing something compelling like one of those guys? Maybe, I could channel an inner Dylan Thomas? Perhaps, if I touched the oxfords of Dr. Seuss? Now, there is a good plan! That Sam I Am, That Sam I Am, I do not like that Sam..............E-I-E-I-O! Perhaps, if I had voted for Barack Obama I would be more sensitive and artistic? All muses, artists, and sensitive people vote Democratic, don't they? --- Yes, that's it! If I change my voter registration I'll suddenly awake one day with all of the angst and existentialist ardor of Sartre or Dostoyevsky!...........................****, not a chance. A better strategy might be to write poetry for all of the right reasons. It is very much worthwhile expression and communication in our age. It is an accomplishment if even a handful of people every read the words. Poetry is still important today. Its benefits enable the author to 'dig the well' of their life experience deeper with every topic completed. The words are there. All one has to do is gather them fearlessly!