it’s not hard
it should come easy
like a breeze
like water running
like your heart beating.
if it’s difficult
stop
you are doing it wrong.
if you are more worried about
form
than the words you are putting
down,
stop.
you shouldn’t have to force it
like squeezing a zit
or a boil
waiting for it to explode.
it should come easy
like cutting your flesh
with a sharp razor
and the blood pouring out
onto the floor.
if you have mastered this part,
then please for fuck’s sake
have something to say!
if your poem doesn’t make people think
you have failed.
if your poem is so obtuse that no one
can understand,
you have failed.
it should be simple
and flow freely,
but must have something to say.
it must have MEAT on the bone!
if one doesn’t think after reading
your poem,
than what they read was as trivial
to them as reading an entry
from your grade school diary.
no one cares
and you are giving poetry a bad name
and leaving an awful taste on the lips
of those that read them.
do your poems have to be about grief
and loss?
no.
can they be about love and happiness?
of course!
but have something to say.
make it simple.
let it flow.
less is more.
your poem is already out there
it is finished
floating around in the ether
all you have to do
is shut the fuck up
sit down
and write it.
every poem that will be written
has already been written
it is there
on a different plane
you just have to let it come.
the words have already come together
in your mind.
just sit the fuck down and write it!
I am not doing this for you.
I am not telling you this because I care about
your future.
I am simply telling you this
for the selfish reason
that I want something good to read!
this is for me and me alone.
you can go fucking die for all I care,
just don’t kill off poetry before you go.
