how to write poetry

step 1: invent the universe.

step 2: exist, in life, generally.

step 3: think about something you’d like to write.

step 4

a: stop taking art so seriously. it’s not that important. poetry is just fancy sentences with stylized breaks. acting is people standing right in front of you, pretending to be other people. dance is rhythmically jumping around. it’s all fucking stupid as hell.

b: take art seriously. it is the most important thing in the entire universe. it is the nourishment of the soul, it is the beckoning of the spirit to be heard and understood. poetry is your quintessence expressed in fragments. acting is inhabiting and exploring the human experience. dance is poetry in motion. it’s beautiful and wild and symbolic.

step 5: reconcile steps 4a and 4b so that they both exist in your mind at the same time, creating blissful dissonant music together.

step 6: write your poem.

jcb