I have spent three weeks now on a poem that will neither resolve nor get out of my head. I cannot make it work at all. I don't know why it isn't working. I want to put my head through plate glass.
I'm sorry about the poem--I know the feeling very well. I wish I had some useful piece of advice for you, but I haven't. (And believe me, if I had a dollar for every time over the past few weeks I've been tempted to say "If I amn't done with this in two days, I'll shoot myself," I'd not be rich, but I'd probably have enough to buy myself a nice new handmade cittern.)
I know the feeling well; though, please, no plate glass. Your head has been the birthplace of many beautiful things, I mean, beyond its utility to you, which I cannot stress enough, given that you may not be seeing said utility quite right in current circumstances (Lord knows, I tend to forget the utility of mine when such things happen, but then I think "where would I keep my hat?" Sadly the answer to that is often "behind the couch.")
I won't vouch for the utility of this intuition, but it tells me that you should try the poem backwards, or, failing that, widdershins. Whichever way works or does not, have some good mojo.
It is still very much appreciated. In return . . .
I won't vouch for the utility of this intuition, but it tells me that you should try the poem backwards, or, failing that, widdershins. Whichever way works or does not, have some good mojo.
Barring any plate glass misfortunes, how would you feel about renting your head for filthy cash? I have a writing project that wants poesy, and I have none of my own to give it.
Can you write ancillary poems around the main ones? Ones that that let you call across a great distance to the main one, even though they're not the main one?
I wonder if it's like remembering a name when you can't remember. You (well, I) think to yourself (myself), "I know it's two syllables and it starts with an M." Later, the name turns out to be "Harmony." It's not two syllables and doesn't start with an M at all... my brain shrugs when I point these things out. My point? Struggling to think of all two-syllable names or all names beginning with M wouldn't help me. I'm not sure what would--but it's when I'm doing other things that the word "Harmony" pops into my head.
Your poem may need another form or may need another form *first*. Can you write it as something else?
Other people's suggestions usually are no good. [Came out sounding bad--wasn't putting down myself or others for our suggestions; what I mean is that sometimes suggestions aren't what you need or are looking for... ]
I have a feeling weeks like these make you doubt yourself. Please do not. You are still you. This poem will come--just in its own way, on its own schedule.
1) Good luck! I hope it comes together, or the written bits are spores for other poems or somesuch.
2) I burst out laughing when I read this. Not at you, but at the situation, and because I am glad to hear someone say this. So much blogging about writing sounds like "WAH WAH (WRITING) WAH WAH (JUST LIKE) WAAAAH (MAKING CUPCAKES), WAH WAH (ONLY) WAH WAH WAH (EASIER)!." My experience has been more that of the wrecker of glaziers' labor.
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I hope things improve soon...;)
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I'm sorry about the poem--I know the feeling very well. I wish I had some useful piece of advice for you, but I haven't. (And believe me, if I had a dollar for every time over the past few weeks I've been tempted to say "If I amn't done with this in two days, I'll shoot myself," I'd not be rich, but I'd probably have enough to buy myself a nice new handmade cittern.)
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Nine
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My instinct is to say that if it's stuck around for all this long, it's going to be worth it.
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http://www.sendspace.com/file/zad0xm
(I fear I may have gotten a bit off track.)
I won't vouch for the utility of this intuition, but it tells me that you should try the poem backwards, or, failing that, widdershins. Whichever way works or does not, have some good mojo.
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It is still very much appreciated. In return . . .
I won't vouch for the utility of this intuition, but it tells me that you should try the poem backwards, or, failing that, widdershins. Whichever way works or does not, have some good mojo.
Thank you.
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. . . Dude. Sure. E-mail me. I cannot guarantee that I can write what you need, but I am certainly willing to try.
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Thank you.
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I wonder if it's like remembering a name when you can't remember. You (well, I) think to yourself (myself), "I know it's two syllables and it starts with an M." Later, the name turns out to be "Harmony." It's not two syllables and doesn't start with an M at all... my brain shrugs when I point these things out. My point? Struggling to think of all two-syllable names or all names beginning with M wouldn't help me. I'm not sure what would--but it's when I'm doing other things that the word "Harmony" pops into my head.
Your poem may need another form or may need another form *first*. Can you write it as something else?
Other people's suggestions usually are no good. [Came out sounding bad--wasn't putting down myself or others for our suggestions; what I mean is that sometimes suggestions aren't what you need or are looking for... ]
I have a feeling weeks like these make you doubt yourself. Please do not. You are still you. This poem will come--just in its own way, on its own schedule.
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2) I burst out laughing when I read this. Not at you, but at the situation, and because I am glad to hear someone say this. So much blogging about writing sounds like "WAH WAH (WRITING) WAH WAH (JUST LIKE) WAAAAH (MAKING CUPCAKES), WAH WAH (ONLY) WAH WAH WAH (EASIER)!." My experience has been more that of the wrecker of glaziers' labor.
As Epimetheus said:
Don't forgot about "esperance".
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(This unsolicited advice offered to you by someone who just finished revising yet again something he started in June 1993.)
---L.
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(Appreciated. How did it turn out?)
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"I thought I'd know her anywhere, but maybe that's not her head?"
Thank you!
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I have exactly three songs of his—"Tomorrow Wendy," "One Girl in a Million," and now "Maybe That's Not Her Head"—and clearly I need more.