I used to think I had no time to write poems. I graduated from my MFA program, moved back to the DC area and got a strange job managing the production of direct mail packages for nonprofits. I lived on homemade mashed potatoes and Caesar salad (not because I was poor but because I had no clue how to cook and those were the two dishes my boyfriend knew how to make) and commuted 45 minutes each way to work. Inspired by O’Hara’s Lunch Poems, I used to drive my car over to a nearby golf course, eat a bagel with cream cheese and write my terrible poems. Even though I “had no time,” I still wrote. I knew the poems were not good. That was not the point. The point was to write.
Just for you…5 Ways to Find Time to Write Poems
1. Use Bloglines to subscribe to your poetry blogs. Stop using those links in your blogroll! With Bloglines, you can see who has updated so you don’t waste time visiting blogs without new posts since the last time you visited. You are able to read blogs in your Bloglines viewer and easily page through blog posts.
2. Batch Tasks Together: I save up a bunch of 32 Poems subscriptions (did you know you can subscribe now and get one additional free issue in your subscription?) and complete them all together in one batch instead of doing a few here and a few there. The process becomes quicker and more automated if I do them all together. Even better will be when I have software to do this task for me.
3. Figure Out the Most Important Item You Must Do: Are you doing the most important task right now? If not, get it done. You’ll save yourself some energy from worrying about that task.
4. Do Easy Tasks Now: If you get an email with an easy request, complete it now. Then, you do not have to bother with adding it your task list, writing it down or saving the email in a special folder. Do the task and delete the email.
5. Use Lists. I started to place my tasks in Outlook even though I don’t use that for email. Using this task list saves me time, and I can easily rearrange tasks (which is hard to do with paper!).
Have fun saving time and having more time to write poems. Read this for more info on Time Management for Poets.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
What about quitting my day job and living off mom and dad? I think I would have plenty of time for writing poetry in their basement.
Collin — There you go! You just wrote item #6. =)
Also, you can subscribe to comments feeds as well. That way, if you leave a comment at someone else’s blog and are interested in any responses, they’ll be sent to your reader and you don’t have to spend time checking back.
I keep a “Comments” folder in Bloglines that I just purge maybe once a week.
Great suggestions, Deborah! I use Google Reader for my feeds, but Bloglines works as well. Another thing you can do is schedule a certain time each day to write, even if for 15 minutes. Stay true to it and make it a point every day. Put everything else on hold for that 15 minutes. Use it wisely though. You don’t have to write a new poem every time. You can also use the time to revise a poem.
@ADT Thank you for the additional suggestion. I probably waste time going back to blogs to look for comments
@Allen Google Reader works. I just don’t want Google know *every*thing about me.
Well, yeah, there is that.
Hello Deborah:
I found your poem “Lake” very beautiful and decided to translate to Serbian language. I am sending your original poem and my translation and hope that you can find someone who will be able to validate that translation. Please, let me know if you would like your poems to be translated to Serbian language (maybe some of them are already translated). Beside that, please, let me know if I inadvertently offended any of copyright protections.
Best regards.
Andrew Usjak
The Lake by Deborah Ager
The yard half a yard,
half a lake blue as a corpse.
The lake will tell things you long to hear:
get away from here.
Three o’clock. Dry leaves rat-tat like maracas.
Whisky-colored grass
breaks at every step and trees
are slowly realizing they are nude.
How long will you stay?
For the lake asks questions you want to hear, too.
Months have passed since, well,
everything. Since buildings stood
black against sky, rain hissed from sidewalks
and curled around you.
O, how those avenues once seemed menacing!
I know what you miss
sings this lake. Car horns groaning
in rush hour. Sweet coffee. Wind
pounding like hammers. Warmth of a lover.
Crickets humming love songs to the street.
Jezero – Debora Ejger
Dvorište pola dvorišta
pola jezera plavo kao leš.
Jezero će reći stvari koje ÄezneÅ¡ da ÄujeÅ¡:
odlazi odavde.
Tri sata. Suvo lišće pucketa kao marake.
Trava boje viskija se
lomi kod svakog koraka a drveće
polako postaje svesno da je golo.
Koliko dugo ćeš ostati?
Za jezero koje postavlja pitanja koja želiÅ¡ da ÄujeÅ¡, takoÄ‘e.
Meseci su prošli od tada, pa,
sve. Od kada su zgrade stajale
crne nasuprot nebu, kiša je šištala sa trotoara
i kovrdžala se oko tebe.
O, kako su te avenije jednom izgledale zlokobne.
Znam Å¡ta ti nedostaje
peva ovo jezero. Auto trubi uzdišući
u gužvi. Slatka kafa. Vetar
koji udara kao Äekići. Toplina ljubavnika.
Zrikavci zriÄu ljubavne pesme ulici.