Because of the heavy e-mail response to yesterday’s post, I’ve decided to write a series of poetry writing tips. These are not for the faint of heart, only for people dedicated to poetry.
Tip 1.
Strip. Take a sharpie and start writing whatever comes to your head on your body. Once your entire body is covered, go to a copy machine. Randomly make copies of all the parts. Each part is a poem.
Tip 1.1
Write a poem on your computer, preferably a tablet or laptop, then submerge the device in a tub of water for ten minutes. Retrieve the device, place it on a table, and on a separate computer, write a sestina about your experience.
Tip 1.2
Find a poetry workshop teacher. Get him/her intoxicated before class (quite easy to do) and lock him/her up in a closet. Enter the classroom and pretend to be a substitute teacher. Collect all the poems for the day and then claim them as your own.
Tip 1.3
Take one of your old poems. Run it through a translator several times. Then, erase every other line and rewrite them. (You can repeat this process for an entire book of poems.)
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