Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Phases of Poetry-Writing
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Phases of Poetry-Writing
Poets starting out write
poems to please themselves,
one way or another.
Later they write poems
to please others,
then poems to please
themselves and others.
In the next and last phase,
they know what a good
poem is in their way
of writing is and, nothing
personal, they don't care
too much what others think.
Dickinson passed through
these phases all at once
and stayed
in all these phases
simultaneously.
Copyright 2011 Hans Ostrom
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&
#
Phases of Poetry-Writing
Poets starting out write
poems to please themselves,
one way or another.
Later they write poems
to please others,
then poems to please
themselves and others.
In the next and last phase,
they know what a good
poem is in their way
of writing is and, nothing
personal, they don't care
too much what others think.
Dickinson passed through
these phases all at once
and stayed
in all these phases
simultaneously.
Copyright 2011 Hans Ostrom
Counter-Invictus
An imitative, improvised response to William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) and his ultra-famous poem, "Invictus":
Counter-Invictus
Out of the day that covers me,
Gray as the gray of dull wool,
I thank what gods may hang around
For reminding me I'm a fool.
When things have gone real wrong,
I've reacted well, badly, or okay,
Sometimes up to the challenge, sometimes
Not: the usual human way.
Beyond this sphere of our mortality
Lies who knows what for sure?
Hell, yes, I'm afraid to die--
To go from here to were.
To say you are the captain of your
Fate is bluster and delusion.
Accidents happen all the time,
And captains experience confusion.
If there's such a thing as fate,
Then it's the Admiral,
And we're just lowly deckhands:
How much can we control?
Copyright 2011 Hans Ostrom
Counter-Invictus
Out of the day that covers me,
Gray as the gray of dull wool,
I thank what gods may hang around
For reminding me I'm a fool.
When things have gone real wrong,
I've reacted well, badly, or okay,
Sometimes up to the challenge, sometimes
Not: the usual human way.
Beyond this sphere of our mortality
Lies who knows what for sure?
Hell, yes, I'm afraid to die--
To go from here to were.
To say you are the captain of your
Fate is bluster and delusion.
Accidents happen all the time,
And captains experience confusion.
If there's such a thing as fate,
Then it's the Admiral,
And we're just lowly deckhands:
How much can we control?
Copyright 2011 Hans Ostrom
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
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