How to Write Poems #510
Spelling is very important.
She was excited about
the bottle of gin, but
disappointed when
what came out of it
wouldn't grant
any wishes at all
—F. J. Bergmann
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a version of this poem appeared on espressostories.com
with the title "Spell."
How to Write Poems #86
See, you take a language
you don't even know
and make up whatever
you think it looks like
it could say. Schickelgruber
becomes "shackled grubs"
or "sickle groove." Or "chick
leg rubber." Words are
squirming Rorschach splats
and you have a condition
not described in the DMS-IV.
Pictograms and hieroglyphs
are more, or possibly less,
accommodating. Barcodes are
the most challenging.
—F. J. Bergmann
How to Write Poems # 49
Rip a page from a defective
dictionary, or a dull novel. Cross
out the words you don't need,
like unnecessary or egregious;
words you don't like, such as
homeland or atrocity; words you
don't want, like heart or knife.
You may be left with nothing
but articles or pronouns,
those monosyllabic grunts
indicative of something
like passion, or pain.
—F. J. Bergmann
Ars Poetica
Poetry is an act of omission, until meaning narrows
into one knifeblade moment, dwindling to
a spark. The fine horse trots away
over the distant hill and the
horizon is empty,
the fog falling
just before
dark.
—F. J. Bergmann