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JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana

0 posted 2011-04-02 10:03 PM


Not that I have ever ascended into such lofty positions as the poets I describe herein, but even so, I can relate because we all have days, weeks, etc., when the words will just not come . . .


poems are not our friends
sometimes
we sit and ponder
we ponder and fret
hands poised o'er the keys
praying in our own personal way
to write
a better poem
better than the last one
even the last ten
for
we become complacent
because every once in a while
magic flows from our brains
to the fingers
tapping, tapping such profundity
such . . . ah, noblesse
above and beyond commoners
such a poem speaks
on a higher plane even than the poet
who signed his name to it
then, of course
comes the drought
find yourself striving for the same
adulation
the hand clapping
the same hear! hear! and
stand poet, take a bow
the drought, however, has no mercy
and you, the poet
shrivels into an uncompromising shell
fighting the words
words which laugh at you
words which
from the distance from your brain
and the keyboard
has lost its dynamic force
instead of standing proudly
in the midst of
lackluster, anemic words
a reason to hold their own heads up
and shout
to the world
look at me! look at me!
that once dynamic word
remember it
fades into a blandness
unseen by this poet
where are the words
the magic
the profound lines
not there so you write on anyway
tripe
minor league
did i say tripe
gone are the accolades
the whispering in the shadows
genius
master wordsmith


yeah
it all goes so quickly


~ If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly. ~

[This message has been edited by JerryPat2 (04-02-2011 10:52 PM).]

© Copyright 2011 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved
ethome
Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858
New Brunswick Canada
1 posted 2011-04-02 10:46 PM


Ain't it just the truth and no one can really explain it.

Been there, done that, and couldn't escape for a long time.

Too bad you couldn't get a triple inspiration bypass operation so you could start all over again.

What can I say, you wrote it so well.

Eric

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere
2 posted 2011-04-02 10:48 PM


Oh Jerry I do believe you've struck gold here. How perfectly captured.
Lori

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
3 posted 2011-04-02 10:58 PM


Yeah, we all go through those droughts, Eric. I fight mine by reading any kind of poetry I can find, except olde English (I have NEVER been able to understand it) and usually something I've read clicks onto something and I take off. If that doesn't work in a couple of days that is when I do the curling up in the corner and pout.

Lori, the thing about writing poems about not being able to write poems grabs most poets attention and usually they can relate with some, or most of it. In other words I'm preaching to the choir heah. Thanks for showing up, I appreciate it. Always.

~ If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly. ~

Honeybunch
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115
South Africa
4 posted 2011-04-03 05:01 AM


Hi Jerry - I can't imagine you going through a drought but if you say it then I must believe you.  Perhaps I'm lucky to be a story teller and not a poet because there is always without fail a story in everything.  

You have written the drought so very well but don't dwell on it because ... thoughts are things.  

Helen

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
5 posted 2011-04-03 07:48 AM


I don't usually have problems writing, Helen, but when I do I fight back with all I have, an in the meantime write some pretty awful stuff. Thanks Helen.

~ If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly. ~

dreamgal
Member
since 2011-03-17
Posts 442

6 posted 2011-04-03 01:21 PM


I seem to have difficulty before every thing I write, i read somewhere that sometimes a good trick is to just write without even thinking about wether it rhymes or makes sense keep going, then go back and edit and you'd be suprised how pretty good your words come out.
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
7 posted 2011-04-03 01:29 PM


I use that technique sometimes, dreamgal. It works pretty good. Thank you for being here.

~ If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly. ~

serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

8 posted 2011-04-03 04:51 PM


It either very easy or very hard.

And I do so worry about those seedlings.

Before the internet, and Pip, I used to just burn my notebooks--but that's another issue of mine. *shaking my head*

Each one, even if it's similar, holds a memory. And reading them is either very easy or very hard.

I'm very glad of your company, Jer.

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
9 posted 2011-04-03 05:28 PM


You betcha, Serenity, and I value your company on high plane.

Ha! You and those seedlings. Gotta love it.

I don't recall burning any notebooks crammed with words, but I have definitely left a few here and yon in my frantic search to find what I already had.

Thanks for your company, Serenity.

~ If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly. ~

steavenr
Member Elite
since 2003-11-17
Posts 4058

10 posted 2011-04-03 09:48 PM


"and you, the poet
shrivels into an uncompromising shell
fighting the words
words which laugh at you"

...and you, well, you have captured the essence of the dry season oh so well (my words actually snicker at me)

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
11 posted 2011-04-03 10:16 PM


I almost  use the word snicker also. Thanks, steavenr, for being here, it is appreciated.

~ If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly. ~

[This message has been edited by JerryPat2 (04-04-2011 06:44 AM).]

Klassy Lassy
Member Elite
since 2005-06-28
Posts 2187
Oregon
12 posted 2011-04-04 12:27 PM


At times, I feel as if someone else writes and I'm just the messenger. The word "dooppleganger" comes to mind...and I didn't even know what that meant until my daughter told me last week.   But there is a part of me that I don't know as well as I would like, and she likes to read and write, dream and dance.  She gets laughed at a lot.  She will probably outlive me, though.  
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
13 posted 2011-04-04 06:45 AM


At times, when we are at our best, I think we all have a doppelganger pushing the pen. Thanks, Klassy Lassy, for being here.

~ If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly. ~

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