There's this idea that the only requirement for being a poet is having strong thoughts and feelings, that poetry flows perfectly from one's soul - it can't be improved or taught, and it is independent of history or the world. I on't know where this idea comes from. When I was in grad school, my father mailed me a poem he'd written in rhymed quatrains that spoke in vague, symbolic language about a child who broke the mould set for them by their parents and teachers. When I talked to him on the phone about it, he suggested I try to get it published, that people would relate because it was his thoughts and feelings on paper. This was a man who had just watched me take four years of undergraduate courses in the field of poetry. If a genie ever granted me three wishes, I would spend one of them on eradicating the belief in the spontaneous and unteachable nature of poetry from the earth.
- Kayla Czaga, from her essay "The Art of Rereading" in Resonance: Essay on the Craft and Life of Writing (Anvil Press, 2022).
No comments:
Post a Comment