Article voiceover
Wait until 6 PM.
During the day
you can do absolutely
anything: work,
laundry,
make a big pot
of kale and white bean soup.
(I like Northern beans
but all white beans work well)
Go to the post office.
Post offices are always
good places for poems.
Observe who’s mailing
what, and imagine, if they
were writing letters,
what those letters would say.
Don’t consider
that most people don’t
write letters any more.
For instance: the large
man in front of you
probably has an ex or two.
What would he say
to him or her?
Call up someone
anyone named Steve
or Stephen. There
are hundreds of possible
Steves. Ask Steve
to tell you a good story.
Then write it down.
A gem, Esther! Pulling stories from the world around you is something you do so very well, and is the reason you have fans like me! Thanks for another delightful poem on writing!
I like this advice. Sadly, Im too frightened of poetry. I write prose. My attempts at poetry have all ended in failure. I once thought my fate would be to marry a drunken Irish poet, or to become one myself. Ive managed not to do either.