Poetry is Scary
Poetry asks. A lot of brains
don’t bother. If you want
your poems to be read, don’t
hide them behind a click.
Maybe throw a visual in–
people seem to react to
knit projects, paintings,
but poetry is scary:
Even if you kept out
politics, religion, epiphany,
romance, war, derision.
If you want a response,
maybe send a recording.
Maybe film yourself
reciting it while you
paint yourself red.
Very few will dare to pause.
Prepare to get looked past,
lost in the scroll–
still, you revise until it’s worthy.
15 thoughts on "Poetry is Scary"
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It asks a lot of us but rewards the ones that do take the time out and read
Yes! And hey, not everyone is a reader.
I like to write poems in mashed potatoes using saffron and chives, and posting them on Instagram. People can’t ignore a good food Gram.
Poetry is like turmeric for some people–not worth a shit if you don’t chase it with black pepper.
Great as always, Tabitha.
Lovely thoughts!
Thanks for the big laugh. Your saffron bill must be pretty high!
Too true
Great message in poetic form to entice us to keep writing poetry.
Still chuckling.
Love: “Poetry asks.”
Enjoyed this perspective of poetry! Happy LexPoMo!
Yes! Beautiful first sentence. Most writing is scary, but poetry digs deep. Kudos to all on lexpomo for sharing!
I love the voice–clever, clipped, seen-it-all, busy agent behind a desk piled with manuscripts. The “maybe” lines are my favorites.
LEXPOMO is honestly the only community I’ve found worth sharing my work with. I’m extremely thankful for this. You nailed this one, so much truth in here.
Heard!
What a brilliant poem, friend! Wow! This.
This is so good and accurate. Bravo, well done
This might be my favorite