pure poet

I met a pure poet once. He dressed the part: A thrift store wool vest over a white shirt and beaten jeans. He was someone who wrote poems and worked as a cook in a restaurant. I don’t think he was ever recognized for his poetry in his lifetime. But I recognized him as a poet the first time I heard him read.

more than speech

When reading your poetry consider: enunciation, pace, pauses (silence), tone and modulation. Some poets aren’t blessed with pleasing voices, but they can thoughtfully manage their speech patterns to better present their poetry.

read local hear local

Read poetry locally. Hear poetry locally.