January 2015 Poetry Challenge

C. J. Laity, editor of CRAM invited poems on the subject of writing poetry for issue 11. Below are three poems from that journal, each with a different take on the subject. Marilyn Peretti objected to the sometimes arbitrary rules imposed by teachers of poetry and members of critique groups. Pamela Larson reacted to rejections that poets so often receive, expressing her thoughts in a villanelle. Michelle Brinckerhoff wrote with tongue in cheek about "the dangers of dating a poet."

Poetry Mistakes?

To the writer who says

we poets must not use that,

I say that it is perfectly acceptable,

for that which is written in my poems

is all that one could want.

And to the poetry counselor

who advises that we must not

repeat words, I write and write

to find a way to tell her that here

is the way one can do that,

here is the freedom plane of

line breaks and stanzas where

truth inevitably belies arbitrary rules.

The muse is a sprite, a mischief-

maker who jumps to conclusions and

leaps to tipsy ideas, leaving the novel

in the dust, plants prepositions at

line-ends, hones the skills of delicious art

never to return again, inspiring then

hiding, to escape the harsh tongue of

the anti-muse.

~ Marilyn Peretti

The Poet’s Hell

(Via Villanelle)

Thank you for sending us your poetry

These words I always receive when they write

a rejection, worded so politely.

Send us your poems, three or four, they plead.

I run to the box to mail them that night.

Thank you for sending us your poetry.

For months at a time I wait patiently

for letters that read, ‘It wasn’t quite right”—

a rejection, worded so politely.

But On I will go with persistency

emailing attachments through cyber flight.

Thank you for sending us your poetry.

Someday I will win, so says history,

but meanwhile I suffer the poet’s plight—

a rejection, worded so politely.

My duty: submit with consistency,

even though this just seems to invite

Thank you for sending us your poetry—

a rejection, worded so politely.

~ Pamela Larson

Dangers of Dating a Poet

One day it might end.

You realize you are not paranoid—

a writer does not recognize the profane.

Every fight or tender moment between you might now

be immortalized in a poem you have

not given your consent to.

You could be reading something by

your now ex-lover and realize she

is holding you up too closely to the light.

Your personality is a persona and you

are trapped on the page. There is no voice

of rebuttal (unless you are a poet yourself

and you don’t need this poem to know what

you signed on for in the beginning.)

But if your ex-lover once swore off poetry—

don’t believe her. She will always return to it.

It is in her blood.

A necessary exorcism to express

what she’s eaten. Intimate moments are

never declared too difficult to digest.

~ Michelle Brinckerhoff


Poets whose poems are published on this blog retain copyright on their work. Do not copy and distribute the poems without permission of the authorsl


NEW POETRY CHALLENGE
Write a poem about writing poetry or being a poet. Your poem can be free verse or formal. If you use a form, please specify what form you are using.

Submit only one poem. Poems published on the Internet are not eligible. Poems in print journals or books are eligible, if you hold the copyright and include publication data.  Submission of a poem gives permission for the poem to be published on this blog if it is a winner.

Please left-justify your poem and put your name at the bottom. Send a short bio with the poem so it can be posted if your poem wins. Submit your poem to wildamorris [at] ameritech [dot] net by January 15, 2015. Poems received after that date will not be considered.


CRAM has been replaced by a fine new publication, edited by C. J. Laity,  The Journal of Modern Poetry. You can read about this journal and how to submit your work at chicagopoetry.com.

Blog copyright by Wilda Morris