Bless me oh poetry gods, for I have sinned. I gave my poem a boring, abstract title that even made me lose interest in it. How many poems have you seen with a title like ‘Love’, ‘Justice’, or ‘Morning’? Your brain is left scrambling even before you dive into the poem. It may set up expectations your poem doesn’t deliver. Worst of all is the dreaded, ‘Untitled’. Not only does it miss an opportunity to…
Revising your poetry. You’ve got a notebook (computer) full of finished poems and wonder “What comes next?” Do you slap the results in an email and rush to submit them far and wide? Or do you carefully revise your work, and create the strongest poems possible? Revising poetry is the way to go, more so now that I know the depth of my not knowing. It’s a rare poem that can make the leap from…
It all sounds so easy. Write poetry. Organize your poetry into book format. Submit chapbook. Profit! Well, maybe not the last one. We all know how much poetry pays. Sometimes it’s tempting to fold poems into paper airplanes and send them out into the world. I favor the “tie a poem to a balloon and send it aloft” method, but that’s bad for the environment. So, what to do with all those poems? First, print…
Ah, love poems. February 14th is coming up fast. Perhaps you want to write a love poem to your significant other. Or maybe you need a love poem to yourself. Nothing wrong with that. A love poem to the furry presence in your life? No problem. Read it to your cat or dog and let them know how much they mean to you. There are no limits on love poetry. Well, one limit. Please don’t…
