I look at this journal from time to time.
It's a collection of poetry put together with the help of some people I knew at college. I graduated before them, so I never got to see them move on to cooler things.
I don't even own this book. My girlfriend went to my school and graduated a year after me. She knew many of the people involved, so naturally she kept a copy. I had no idea this even existed until she showed it to me.
I was amazed. If I learned about this tome back in the day, I would have been even more envious of these poets than I already was.
I thought of those writers as true rebels. They were younger than me. Most of the writers who weren't in my class seemed cooler, more confident and truer poets than I could have ever hoped to be at the time.
As far as I know, none of them are writing and publishing anything today.
I look at this collection--something I could have never pictured doing on my own even five years ago--and wonder what it was that kept me going while they stopped.
Once in a while, I wonder what constitutes "staying power" as a poet. Especially in myself when I think of others who showed far more talent than I ever did those twenty-plus years ago.
Maybe the key to being a great writer is knowing when to stop.
...
I start my 30/30 for April tomorrow.
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