You're Not A Poet

Name-dropping gets your disqualified.

If you have to strain

just to write something plain,

you’re not a poet.

 

If you have to think a bit

to ship out a bloody movement,

you’re not a poet.

 

If you go inspiration-fishin’;

mixing your writing and wishin’,

you’re not a poet.

 

Write only about writing/ not-writing…

Ah, just one thing:

you’re not a poet.

 

If you re-write a re-write,

then you’re not right,

if you think you’re a poet.

 

If you think any stink is verse;

stunted writing…here’s your hearse:

you’re not a poet.

 

If you spend over an hour on a piece,

Set down your pen----cease!

You’re not a poet.

 

If you write about you and only you,

and it’s all true?!

You’re not a poet.

Reviews

[Rose of Gondor]

Awwwwwwwww!!! I'm not a poet. But I think I knew that from the start. Or am I just beating myself up? Cause I rewrite and rewrite and rewrite again, and I go inspiration-fishing a lot.

The horrible truth I always knew deep down inside---I am not a poet! T.T

Anyways---back to the poem itself: I love the flow and the way the lines rhymed. I myself is a free-verse, um, poetry--writer (since I'm not a poet...) who actually appreciates rhyming poems (although I can never seem to do it myself...). It's really rare nowadays............... but this is really nice. those lines rhymed. Big time. You even managed to rhyme that 'if you spend over an hour on a piec, Set down your pen----cease!'. I admire that rhyming.

Great job!

[Helen Crutchett]

Loved the concept of this. It kept my interest from beginning to end. Well done!

[Sweet & Tender Hooligan]

A very interesting piece. With the invention of the internet and blogging. Many people these days think they're poets. This piece reminds me of Charles Bukowski. A interesting write and it is true of some of the writers on writers cafe but not of all the writers and reviewers on here.

[Poetic Beauty]

I love some of these lines. Some of them ring true. But most of us at one point or another have to find inspiration somewhere. be it nature or lost love. I love the idea of this poem.