No more poetry

[Doreen Peri]

I've decided not to write poetry any more.
I have no need to spend the time creating
vivid images or effective metaphors.

Words in verse are just words, after all, and
I have no desire now to write them down.
I can't tell you how many poems I've found
just sitting idly on my computer hard drive.

There's no purpose to them, and though
at one time I thought they had lives
of their own, I realize now,
they're dead somehow.

Their lives were so short-lived
they didn't much matter at all.
So I've made up my mind
that writing poems is not my call.

There are so many more worthwhile things
to do to spend my time, I've concluded.
And though I've argued this point before
with myself, I always refuted
the claim and reverted again
to writing lyric... free verse or rhyme,
then signing my name.

But not this time.
This time I'm done, I've quite had enough!
Can't make a dime on poetry, you see.
If I continue writing poems as an occupation
I may very well end up living in a hovel.
Poetry has no purpose.

Instead, I'm going to write a novel.
Novels are money makers.
Just one best seller and I'll be set.

Signed,
Doreen Peri, the novelist
(You haven't seen the last of me yet!)

[constantine]

i believe in you, doreen peri, the novelist. but there will always be a warm spot in my heart for your poetry. we don't get any respect - we don't get any money, but we are who we are. even if you are serious, you would instill poetry in the prose.

[mnaz]

right on, doreen!....... maybe even do both! art in general has no purpose, they tell me. is that because it transcends purpose?

I'm making a "novel" out of old poems (and googling) right now. not sure it's going to "work" completely.

[constantine]

transcends purpose!! that's cool. insightful!

[Barry]

Doreen Peri, I love you.

Peace,
Barry

[Doreen Peri]

Dino, Mark Nazz, Barry... I love all your comments! Thank you so much!..

Here are more thoughts on the matter and after you read this aloud, I'm sure you'll agree that I've made the right decision for me. LOL!

.........

The thing about novels is novel because
you can create entire worlds!
You can become characters,
(men, women and girls,
even animated animals if you have the notion!)...
Your characters can live in your country
or in another across the ocean
or you can send them on rocket ships
to live in another galaxy if you decide
that the reader might enjoy taking the ride
landing on a planet nobody's ever named but you!

When you write a novel, the world isn't the same
ever again because you can put a spin
on perception just through your pen!
You can determine where, why, and when,
what's false and what's true, how to view
a situation from one person's eyes and then
another's, how sisters and brothers and uncles
and aunts and neighbors connect, and maybe
even strangers because as a novelist, your role is to be
the person who inspects all which your characters see
as well as all which they can't...
but YOU, as the narrator CAN!

Because a novelist can be the God of sorts, greater than
any other type of God, creating the story, page by page,
as you make characters look back or age...
it's almost like being a sage, seer, or holding a crystal ball.
When you're a novelist, you can create it all.

So this is why I've made this decision, for one thing
or for two. I don't expect you to agree with me just like
you wouldn't expect me to agree with you,
but there's one thing for sure, it's worth a shot ...
'cause if I'm a novelist ...
I CAN BE BOUGHT!


haha

[Doreen Peri]

The first line to my first novel will be ....

"Some stories shouldn't be told."

What do you think? Doesn't that intrigue you? Does it make you want to read more?

[judih]

i think it's Victorian-ish (& maybe i've read it before)
but please who gives a flying shit?
do it! just do it
specially cause of such an opener

[Doreen Peri]

I was thinking of a story about secrets. Shhhh....

(have you read it before? did I steal that line and I don't even know it? ... crap)

I just googled the line. Apparently it's a cliche line used by many.

Great. I'm off to a terrible start in my new life as a novelist. Scratch that first line!

Back to the blank sheet of paper.

[mnaz]

ah, it will come to you... It's nearly impossible to be 100% truly original any more. I'm actually a little fascinated with the idea of 'cliche' after reading some of truck's posts (about Shakespeare). As I said in another thread, I might just toss in a chapter somewhere consisting of nothing but literary/artistic touchstones of genius slipping toward "cliche" as they are continually used and re-used.... Hmm.

[constantine]

anybody got a cig?

[Doreen Peri]

mnaz ... maybe i should write a novel filled with cliches. That could be sorta funny, actually.

anybody got a cig?

dino .... what did i miss? did we have sex?

[Arcadia]

uuhh... sorry if I´m in the middle at the moment...! I´m sure that anything you write would be great doreen: but if you write a novel, yeah, I will have to buy it or print it: I can´t read too much online without doing zapping..!!

[mb]

I'm sorry to hear that. I've always liked your poems. I don't think
they're as dead as you think.
-mb

I've decided not to write poetry any more.
I have no need to spend the time creating
vivid images or effective metaphors.

There's no purpose to them, and though
at one time I thought they had lives
of their own, I realize now,
they're dead somehow.

[hester_prynne]

I got an American Spirit blue.....
H