First, clear the area of critics. <br />Next, grab an image or a supple <br />length of language and get going. <br />It’s all you now. Mumble, sing, <br />murmur, rage, rumble, mock, <br />quote, mimic, denounce, tell, <br />tease. Recall, refuse, regret, <br />reject. Dive, if you dare, into <br />psychic murk. Down there grab <br />the slick tail of something quick. <br />Hold it if you can. Meanwhile, <br />bellow, bellyache, <br />cry, or call, for all I care. I care. <br />Invent like the conning, conniving <br />poet you are, you lying spitter <br />of literature, you. Make it for <br />yourself and fit it to you. You <br />might as well. Readers, editors, <br />teachers, preachers, and publishers <br />aren’t your friends. Other poets <br />are busy with their own poems <br />and other problems. Famous poets <br />are off being remarkable geniuses, <br />eccentric visionaries, sunken wrecks, <br />dead, dead-drunk, or pains in the ass. <br />Say what you see, see what you say, <br />write it for love and for free. Own what <br />you write and give it away. Language <br />will always love you back, so lay <br />a wet kiss on the words, and when and if <br />in doubt, remember: what you want <br />to be is to be writing.<br /><br />Hans Ostrom<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/how-to-write-a-poem-a-poem/
