As I Put a Book Together
So far, my book is like a series of fun house mirrors: I recognize me, the poems recognize each other, but it's hard to figure out where all of it starts or how to pull it all back together into one mirror--the concave kind that reflects the whole of a person in some distorted, otherworldly way.
In addition to how I want to arrange my first book (in a way that surprises me as much as the reader) and which poems I'd like to include in it (poems that surprise me as much as the reader), I've been thinking a lot about the poems I want to write going forward. It'd be good to write some lighter poems so the few folks who read them don't want to fill their pockets with stones and go wading. But I don't write much that is good when I want to write it. Let's say, for instance, I want to write a Dickinson-like poem. I'd suck at writing that. It'd be a terrible poem. I need to lighten up.
I'll admit now that I struggle to read through a whole book of one person's poems. I can read an anthology, but I tend to get bored with one consistent voice, one story. Another thing about me and books of poems: it takes me a LONG time to read a poem. A book of poems 50 takes about the amount of time I spend on a 200 page novel. So, maybe this is why I'm struggling to put a book together?
In addition to how I want to arrange my first book (in a way that surprises me as much as the reader) and which poems I'd like to include in it (poems that surprise me as much as the reader), I've been thinking a lot about the poems I want to write going forward. It'd be good to write some lighter poems so the few folks who read them don't want to fill their pockets with stones and go wading. But I don't write much that is good when I want to write it. Let's say, for instance, I want to write a Dickinson-like poem. I'd suck at writing that. It'd be a terrible poem. I need to lighten up.
I'll admit now that I struggle to read through a whole book of one person's poems. I can read an anthology, but I tend to get bored with one consistent voice, one story. Another thing about me and books of poems: it takes me a LONG time to read a poem. A book of poems 50 takes about the amount of time I spend on a 200 page novel. So, maybe this is why I'm struggling to put a book together?
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