• Home
  • Prompt Series—FREE
  • For Writers
  • Daily Poem-Subscribe! ✨
  • Teaching Tools
  • BOOKS Etc.
  • Patron Love

Twitter Party: The Poetry Home Repair Manual

By Glynn Young 10 Comments

TSP Butterfly

I have a theory about poets and poetry, and it is this: there are only four poets in the United States who make a living by writing poetry. One of them is Billy Collins. I’m not sure who the other three are. But I know they must be out there. Somewhere.

At our recent poetry jam on Twitter, the very first prompt spoke to my theory: “You’ll never be able to make a living writing poems.” It’s a line from The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets by Ted Kooser, former U.S. Poet Laureate and author of some wonderful collections of poetry. (And if you wonder if he is one of the other three poets making a living from writing poems, you should know he retired from an insurance company in Nebraska, where he spent most of his adult working life.)

But even if most of us can’t make a living from writing poems, we can still write for the sheer enjoyment and pleasure it brings, we can still find ourselves challenged and perplexed and awed and struck speechless by reading great poetry, and we can participate in Tweetspeak Poetry jams on Twitter, surprising our Twitter followers when they see tweets like “But if you dress the part, maybe poems will begin to live on your skin.”

Some 18 Twitter poets participated in the jam, and led by our intrepid prompter, away they did go. Here are the first five poems assembled from the jam. (And there are more to come.)

The Poetry Home Repair Manual
(Dedicated to Ted Kooser)

Birth of a poem: Dressing the part

You’ll never be able to make a living writing poems;
you’ll never be able to make a life if you don’t.
But if you dress the part,
poems will begin to live on your skin.
What part of the poem should I dress?

Tell a story in pictures:
begin with your eyes,
follow the line of the neck,
surrounded in pearls.

Black stockings for its long, lithe lines.
(Snag the stockings, they’ll run on forever.)
Just make sure to cover the midriff.
(Snag the run-on and your midriff will be forever striped.)

Red sneakers for its feet,
checkered laces tied twice,
cushioned soles for support,
a red ribbon for its teeth.

With the birth of a poem,
stretch lines around the midriff,
stripes upon the skin,
err, stretch marks. Whichever.
Stretch and stretch and stretch. Birth!
Red the color or birth,
stretch the mark of growth.

And a fedora for formality.
I love my fedora. Let’s go walking,
walking past the sunset into the never-end.
Take it down, yes,
to the end that never ends.

The poem tumbles down

Support my illusion, ma’am.
Support my laces. Tie me twice.
Bolster it with blindfolds, support itself is illusion.
The poem tumbles down my shoulder.

Illusion caught in red laces.
I don’t want you to have any
illusions: tattoos can scar like a heart
done in by soured words. A red poem
stretches around the moment of illusions.
Ah, the mystery of poetry
tied up in ribbons
laced with words
caught, and caught again.

We can stretch meaning,
take down a line or two.
The red sky at night tells
of poetry’s delight. Never ending,
stretched across the sky;
never-ending night unlaced,
silver ribbon delighted.
Take it down, that take unlacing.
Never-ending night unlaced,
never-ending night unlaced

The memoir

Put everything you want
to say in your memoir,
just make it six words
no more no less.
Let down your guard,
write what you mean,
say what you will.
A minimum of effort
is all it takes
to read your lips,
lips that don’t move,
lines that don’t break,
ribbons that don’t lace,
split hairs,
over no word. Each one
finds its way to you.
Guard them well,
those immobile lips.

Love poem

We’ll break the silence,
with silver ribbons.
With silver ribbons,
we’ll break the night.

Love poem 2

Let down your guard.
Let down your hair.
I’ll run it through my teeth.
Your red lips are laced with poetry.
Let down, break the silence.
Write me poems laced with love.
Damn the confidence.
Such as these will not be useful.
Let down your hair
through the red-laced sky.
And where your confidence?
In the poem, the poem.
Each one finds,
its way finds.
Breaking silver splits words.
Inscribe a word
on one of Saturn’s rings.
lift moon dust
from your eyes.

By @TanteWillemijn, @llbarkat, @graceappears, @Doallas, @lwlindquist, @Geyer_M, @SoniaJoie, @annkroeker, @christawells, @SandraHeskaKing, @NatalieSalminen, @VickiAddesso, @monicasharman, @lauralynn_brown, @WmAnthony, @flaxenprint, @elizabethesther, and @nancemdr; edited by @gyoung9751.

Image by wolfraven. Sourced via Flickr. Post by Glynn Young, author of the novels Dancing Priest and A Light Shining.

Browse our collection of poets and poems. Great for personal enjoyment, sharing, or using as teaching tools.

___________________________

tweetspeak free newsletter sample

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter.

We’ll make your Saturdays happy with a regular delivery of the best in poetry and poetic things.

Need a little convincing? Enjoy a free sample.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Glynn Young
Follow Glynn
Glynn Young
Editor and Twitter-Party-Cool-Poem-Weaver at Tweetspeak Poetry
Glynn Young lives in St. Louis where he recently retired as the team leader for Online Strategy & Communications for a Fortune 500 company. Glynn writes poetry, short stories and fiction, and he loves to bike. He is the author of Poetry at Work and the Dancing Priest Series. Find Glynn at Faith, Fiction, Friends.
Glynn Young
Follow Glynn
Latest posts by Glynn Young (see all)
  • Poets and Poems: Brad Lussier and “How Does He Love Me?” - April 12, 2021
  • An Epic Told in 500 Sonnets: “The Gift of Life” by Amanda Hall - April 6, 2021
  • A Novel About Hughes and Plath: “Your Story, My Story” by Connie Palmen - March 30, 2021

Related

❤️✨ Sharing is caring

Filed Under: love poems, love poetry, Poems, Poems about poetry, poems about writing, poetry, Twitter poetry

Comments

  1. Donna Falcone says

    October 1, 2013 at 8:40 am

    These are wonderful!!! Each one is a tribute (to the process, to the poets, to poetry, and to Glynn’s genius)… and I especially love the first two lines of the very first one…

    You’ll never be able to make a living writing poems;
    you’ll never be able to make a life if you don’t.

    I can tell it was a great party! But then again, aren’t they all?

    Reply
  2. Glynn says

    October 1, 2013 at 10:22 am

    Donna – thanks for the comment. And there’s more to come!

    Reply
  3. Maureen Doallas says

    October 1, 2013 at 10:58 am

    That was a fun evening! Thank you for recalling our words to us in new ways.

    I happen to agree
    Billy’s one of three
    or four who’ve opened
    the door to show us
    poetry’s much more,
    not ever a bore.

    So let him be the leader
    of us poetry readers,
    the pied piper of meter
    and rhyme he gave us one
    jolly good time.

    Reply
    • Glynn says

      October 1, 2013 at 12:32 pm

      Maureen – I read this, and I don’t know why this thought comes into my mind: “Brother, can you parse a rhyme?” Great poem!

      Reply
  4. Mary Sayler says

    October 1, 2013 at 11:35 am

    Love this, Glynn! Just highlighted the post on the Christian Poets and Writers blog – http://christianpoetsandwriters.blogspot.com

    Reply
    • Glynn says

      October 1, 2013 at 12:31 pm

      Mary – thank you!

      Reply
  5. davis says

    October 1, 2013 at 5:21 pm

    stretch
    the mark of growth
    round the bend
    ribbons pull straight
    hung on bones
    of the riverbed

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Top Ten Poems with Make-or-Break Titles | says:
    October 10, 2013 at 8:01 am

    […] –Ted Kooser, The Poetry Home Repair Manual […]

    Reply
  2. Twitter Party: The Poetry Home Repair Manual 2 says:
    October 18, 2013 at 3:50 pm

    […] Read the first set of poems from our Twitter Party. […]

    Reply
  3. Tweetspeak Poetry's Top Ten Posts from the Last Month (or so) | says:
    October 31, 2013 at 9:34 am

    […] 8. Twitter Party: The Poetry Home Repair Manual – Tweetspeak Poetry’s recent poetry jam on Twitter used Ted Kooser’s The Poetry Home Repair Manual for prompts. Glynn Young strapped on his toolbelt and crafted some wonderful poems from the party. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

get the sample now

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our April Menu.

Keep the World Poetic

❤️

Welcome a little patron love, when you help keep the world thoughtful and poetic.

5 FREE POETRY PROMPTS

Get 5 FREE inbox poetry prompts from the popular book How to Write a Poem

Join the Poetry Club

Join the poetry club, when you become a subscriber to Every Day Poems ✨

The classic—Now a Graphic Novel!

"Stunning, heartbreaking, and relevant illustrations"

Callie Feyen, teacher

read a summary of The Yellow Wallpaper

meet The Yellow Wallpaper characters

Recent Comments

  • Crystal Rowe on National Poetry Month Book Giveaway—Tell Us Your Personal Poetry Story to Enter!
  • L.L. Barkat on National Poetry Month Book Giveaway—Tell Us Your Personal Poetry Story to Enter!
  • Megan Willome on Poet-a-Day: Meet Maureen E. Doallas
  • Rebecca D. Martin on National Poetry Month Book Giveaway—Tell Us Your Personal Poetry Story to Enter!

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

The New York Observer

Tumblr Book News

Stay in Touch With Us

Categories

Learn to Write Form Poems

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

Free Printable Poet Bios

Browse all poet bios now

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

See all 154 Shakespeare sonnets in our Shakespeare Library!

Explore Work From Black Poets

About Us

  • • Generous-Annual Theme 2021
  • • Our Story
  • • Meet Our Team
  • • Literary Citizenship
  • • Poet Laura
  • • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • • T. S. Poetry Press – All Books
  • • Contact Us

Write With Us

  • • 5 FREE Poetry Prompts-Inbox Delivery
  • • 30 Days to Richer Writing Workshop
  • • How to Write Form Poems-Infographics
  • • Poetry Club Tea Date
  • • Poetry Prompts
  • • Submissions

Read With Us

  • • All Our Books
  • • Best Love Poetry
  • • Book Club
  • • Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Library
  • • Every Day Poems
  • • Literacy Extras
  • • Literary Analysis
  • • Poems to Listen By: Audio Series
  • • Poet-a-Day
  • • Poets and Poems
  • • VerseWrights Journal
  • • William Blake Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Shakespeare Sonnet Library
  • • 50 States Projects

Celebrate With Us

  • • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • • Poetic Earth Month
  • • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • • Poetry at Work Day
  • • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • • Take Your Poet to School Week
  • • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • • Give the Gift of Every Day Poems
  • • Our Shop
  • • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • • Donate
  • • Blog Buttons
  • • By Heart
  • • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2021 Tweetspeak Poetry · Site by The Willingham Enterprise · FAQ & Disclosure