Poem: The plague of words #mop12
January 23rd, 2012 § 1 Comment
One day I’m a genius
The next day I’m a hack
Some days I want to go back
And not write that first word
But this caper is addictive
Sometimes it’s restrictive
It’s words that I am infected
with, Even when I get rejected
I go back and try again
Words invade my brain
Spill out of my fingertips
On the page they collect
And then I have to correct
Move and shift them along
Until I find the place they belong
And when I think I’m finished
I have to begin again
Because words invade my brain
***
So I wanted to write about the process of writing. I did two versions. Below is the first version which I banged out and my husband called pedestrian. So back to the mines I went and wrote the second version above. Sometimes it’s worth having a husband with no filter.
At first my prose is perfect
I gasp with delight as I read
In love with my genius
Then I open my critical eye
See all the mistakes, typo’s and omissions
Slash goes the red pen
As I mark up my revisions
Back and forth from hardcopy
To electronic, reading, reading
and re-reading
The enthusiasm and love is gone
It all seems pedestrian and boring
Now I can’t see anything good
I’ve pulled it apart so many times
It seems there is no value there
Finally I’m sick of the damn thing
Can’t wait to get rid of it
Send it out into the world
And damn the consequences
With nervous stomach
I seal the envelope
Drop it into the mailbox
Get on with you damn wretch
I will know your value
When someone else reads it
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