PS Cottier

All I know about poetry
(Part 1)

1. A rural location can easily slip into nineteenth century pastiche.
2. Some people still worry so much about form that they forget the poem part.
3. Shouting is neither good nor bad, but thought is quite worthwhile.
4. Better Byron than Wordsworth (see 1. above).
5. Those who avoid politics like herpes are often boring —
except for your rare and surprising, Emily-grade genius.
6. Birds are usually to be avoided like the word ‘roseate’ —
why write a poem about a feathered poem inevitably more complete?
(Exceptions include galahs, budgies, swamp dwellers, vultures, and anything else.)
7. Even an Irish accent doesn’t guarantee a good poem.
8. Gatekeepers are attracted to the mundanely beautiful.
9. Bathos is easy.
10. Most people regard poetry as a weird type of embroidery —
at least you only prick your soul on it.

Everyday Canberra scene

Now I hope you have been taking notes.  There will probably not be a quiz next week, but still…In another life I was a hideous teacher in an old-school school.

Project 365 + 1, or my involvement in it, is drawing to a close at the end of the financial year, which is purely coincidental.  30 poems in 30 days.  There should be a law against it!