“Beautiful, beautiful book, ” she said.
NEA fellow Tania Runyan was referring to Love, Etc., which she’d kindly agreed to read for possible endorsement. I had held out the possibility that she might not like the collection, and though that might not be easy on me, I needed it to be clear I understand: not all poems appeal.
She agreed to take about two weeks with the collection, at which point she might provide an endorsement. But the night after I sent it to her, the deed was done. She sneaked some time and read it through, providing an endorsement she hoped would communicate this: “Your poems imitate speech. And I love what you do with spaces.” I thought perhaps it had. Here is the endorsement:
Though subtitled poems of love, laughter, longing & loss, this collection is all longing to me—reaching repeatedly for the clarity that surely lies within life’s entanglements. These poems flirt and seduce. Wait patiently for mulberries and ghosts at the window. Make nests. Button and unbutton. Press the edge of the self. They imitate breath and the spaces between, the desires that get caught in the throat when only a picture, a word, a letter, or silence will do.
Somewhere along the way, Tania and I got to discussing how it is that one ends up writing poems that can do the kind of things the poems in Love, Etc. do. I told her it came mostly of reading others’ poems. Every day. Often multiple poems a day. It was that practice, extended over several years’ time, that had taken my poetry to the next level. And I believe there is no way around it: if you want to be a good poet, you must read excellent poetry. It puzzles (and dismays) me when aspiring poets reveal (as many have pointedly revealed to me on Facebook): I don’t have time to read poetry; I only read my own.
Well.
If you are serious about taking your poetry to the next level, I suggest a practice of reading a poem a day. You can do that very easily and cost-effectively with Every Day Poems (we pick the poems and make sure they are worthy of your time), or you can dip into some of these collections (all of which were my companions while writing the poems that eventually found a home in Love, Etc.)…
Either way, I sincerely hope you’ll consider reading a poem a day. It’s the best secret I can tell you about how to write a poem (or a hundred!), better than you do today.
_______
Check out our new collection of love poems: Love, Etc.
- Poetry Prompt: In the Wild Secret Place - January 6, 2025
- Journeys: What We Hold in Common - November 4, 2024
- Poetry Prompt: My Poem is an Oasis - August 26, 2024
Richard Maxson says
This is one of those activities that lets you know if you love a specific art form or not. If reading and reading and reading the same poems has less and less pleasure, rather than more and more, try sculpting, or wood working.
Poetry is mysterious and unpredictable and magical, more akin to painting and photography than other arts. I saw Ed Bradley’s 60 Minutes interview with Bob Dylan the other day, one of the few informative Bob Dylan interviews. When asked if he looked back on some of his early songs, like “Blowin’ In the Wind,” (which came to him in ten minutes) he said he didn’t reminisce anymore, that he didn’t know how he got to write those songs. He cited, “Darkness at the break of noon, shadows even the silver spoon, the hand-made blade, the child’s balloon, eclipses both the sun and moon…” and said it was like magic how those songs came to him to be written. He didn’t know how or why.
Books like Tania Runyan’s How To Read a Poem are important tools in learning how to approach poetry. I was taught in school to tear a poem apart; break it open like an egg; or peel it like an artichoke; in the end what remains is only pieces of beauty, not the beautiful whole. Poems should be approached like a sunset; just read it; let it wash over you with its sounds and images that may or may not fit together. Do this for a long time and let magic happen. Do this until, like a magnificent sunset, the knowledge of a poem’s structure can never rob you of its spontaneous beauty.
L.L. Barkat says
It seems that for some poets, they only take pleasure in the writing part. But I think that might come to something else, then, besides really loving poetry. It might be more about enjoying sharing one’s work (and wishing people would love it), about self expression, or about poetry being a relaxing pastime.
Somewhere along the way we need to do the work of a poet, but, as you say, if it feels like too much work (and doesn’t give us pleasure), then perhaps woodworking is in order.
Ah, but then, maybe the poet hasn’t been freed by Tania yet! And is afraid to read, because of the way poetry-reading was ruined for them. I love the idea of just letting the magic happen. The structures do internalize over time.
Elizabeth W. Marshall says
Richard, this reads as poetry to me. Perhaps you have a book “on poetry” brewing.
Sandra Heska King says
Reading it aloud. I think that’s what’s helped me the most to hear a poem’s song. Even if I don’t understand it. I miss too much when I read only with my eyes.
L.L. Barkat says
A Runyan recommendation! 😉
I’m so glad you read them aloud.
Maureen Doallas says
I usually have three or four books of poetry I’m reading at any one time. I dip into all of them at some point during the day or evening. I read for the sheer joy of the words on the page, for the depth of feeling that can rise when the writer shows what it’s like to be turned inside out, for the wonder that no two poets experience the same way.
I will never catch up to all the many, many collections that deserve attention but reading poetry every day is the best way I know to keep my imagination open to possibility, my eyes seeing, and my heart open. And I truly believe a poem can save you.
L.L. Barkat says
Maureen, yes. I’m hoping you see your own reading stack tucked into mine? You have been instrumental in leading me to important poetic voices (what turned out to be important for me).
“And I truly believe a poem can save you.”
Yes, yes. What is it about that?
Elizabeth W. Marshall says
It occurred to me in a strange sort of way today, that perhaps only some of my poetry loving friends here, would understand… There is an Iphone app which turns a photograph beautifully into a watercolor. And I truly believe only a poet can turn a poem into a poem.
Take nothing, or something and transform it into a poem. Take a blank page and place words, strung together to evoke feeling and emotion.
If they design an “app” for that, well then I will move to Australia and it will be a terrible no good very bad day.
Laura, this post is perfection. And Tania’s words on your words are masterful.
How can so much beauty be tucked into such a small space. Through poets writing prose about poetry 🙂
L.L. Barkat says
Interestingly, The New York Times does have an app for that, but it’s haiku, and I would add that it takes words that have already been crafted by their amazing writers.
Sometimes I’m surprised at how poignant the poems actually are. Sometimes I’m not surprised when they lack soul 🙂
Elizabeth marshall says
Packing 🙁
Maureen Doallas says
I tend to define “poem” expansively, because inspiration and creativity and imagination are not limited to words. A poem can be cinematic, text-based, found in music, be a photograph, experienced while standing in a field or at the top of a mountain in Colorado or while walking to park, etc. It’s about opening all the senses to what you can discover, in any form, which may or may not be words. It’s about finding something else when words fail. It’s about mastery. And, as L.L. showed in her mimimalist poem, sometimes a poem is two brackets spread wide enough apart to let the reader fill in the spaces.
Elizabeth W. Marshall says
This redefining of poetry opens up worlds of possibility. And you have shifted my paradigm. In a good way. A very good way. That’s why my poetry people are right here 🙂 They challenge me and raise the bar. And that minimalist poem of L.L.’s – brilliant. ( ) It reminds me of the Mary Oliver poem in which an entire line of poetry was the alphabet a-z every single letter 🙂 Can’t recall the title. But is an all time favorite.
Megan Willome says
I just discovered Kevin Young last week–wow! Yes, reading good poetry makes you a better writer of poetry. I’m doing more reading than writing at the moment, but it will pay off.
L. L. Barkat says
Megan, while all of the collections above had their way with me, Kevin Young’s did the most to help me shake loose into new styles and experiments. Something about his own willingness to test the boundaries of the poetic line and sound.
Tania Runyan says
L.L., your advice is simple yet woefully overlooked by so many aspiring poets. I think it is often feels easier to write than read because you need to open yourself to more possibilities when opening yourself to a poem (although I believe we absolutely need to open ourselves to possibilities as writers, too–something that has to be learned along the way). Reading is not just about “getting your feelings down on paper” but entering into a new world and letting that world enter you. And yes, with How to Read a Poem I try my best to show how to free yourself to do that.