Friday, October 23, 2009

Poetry Tips: The Supply Closet of Bad Poetry

This tip is thanks to a literal event in which I was cleaning out my office’s supply closet and found a box titled “Joey’s.” I looked inside to find all manner of crumpled up pieces of paper, various colors, and on a plain white piece was a carefully hand-written poem of love turned sour and bitter. I described my find to my father and he said “It’s like the Supply Closet of Bad Poetry!” Which, if you ask me, would be a fantastic titled to a collection of poems but I also loved the title so much I thought I would turn it into a poetry tip. I urge you to dig out your own bad poems, the poems you can’t bear to throw away but you also cannot bear the thought of others reading and face them in the light. I’ve dragged out some of my own, wincing or laughing, and I may actually get around to cleaning them up and dressing them anew with better flow, better words. I urge you to do the same.

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4 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

this is a great tip. I never throw away a poem - even if the poem itself can't be salvaged, there's often an idea in there for a better poem.

Poet Hound said...

Yes ma'am, and even stumbling on other people's poems can be inspiring!

Anonymous said...

Been there, done that.
And a few were even successfully salvaged.

Poet Hound said...

FAQ,
I hope I can salvage some of my own that I've hidden away from others' eyes! I haven't yet been able to resuscitate mine but if you can do it, so can I.