Next time you're getting ready to write a poem, think about who's actually writing it. 

It doesn't have to be you. 

Any number of famous poets, from Shakespeare to Sylvia Plath, (and virtually everyone in between) experiment with poetic personas, masks, disguises, and  characters. Shakespeare is the most obvious example, given that most of his work is overtly written for the stage.

But If we learn anything from Shakespeare, it's that everything (and everywhere) is a stage.  And that holds true for a poem. 

Imagine if Sylvia Plath,  Anne Sexton,  Robert Frost,  or Emily Dickinson didn't  use poetic disguises. 

Or consider your favorite rapper or hip-hop artist.  For the most part, the art they create reflects a persona, or a variety of personas, and this is a good thing.

In his youth, James Dickey was a middling poet, average running back, and all around unremarkable guy at Clemson University. That is until one of his writing professors told him it was OK to lie when writing poetry.  In Dickey's words this realization caused "the dam to break,"  after which, book after book of daring original poetry (and prose) poured out of him. 

In fact , Dickey's use of personas was so successful that he fooled critics as wise has Robert Bly into mistaking poems such as "Slave Quarters" or "The Firebombing"  as works of authentic imperialism.

What I'm saying is: when you write a poem, choose to be anyone, including yourself, but not limited to yourself.

If you'd like a bit of secret friendly help for your poems contact me through the Poem Polisher button below,  or email me at pitchblackpoet@yahoo.com   

One of the best things about being a poet is that every poem gives you a chance to get things right. If you don't like what you did in the last poem, or the last 20 poems, this poem is your chance to get everything in place.  Whatever mistakes you may have made in the past are only pointers to use to get better.

There's just basically something inherently hopeful in writing a poem. Even if the poem itself is a poem of grim and unrelenting doom. The very fact that you're  writing a poem means you still believe in a few basic things such as human communication, artistic expression, and the capacity of language to conform to your emotions and thoughts. 

So when you face a blank screen or blank piece of paper or simply sitting alone with your creative thoughts, consider every moment and  Act of Hope. 

Every poem you write ( up to a point)  helps you write the next poem better. 

But what happens when that's no longer the case? Is it possible to reach your Peak as a poet?  If you do, will you know? 

Can anybody tell you?

You probably will reach a peak as a poet, but you probably won't know when it happens, and neither will anyone else. If you happen to write a very popular poem, or a very popular book of poems you may still write better poems even if  they don't gain as much instant popularity.

So I guess I'm trying to tell you to look at every poem  you write (or try to write) with the belief that you're still getting better. 

Don't let doubt or fear stop you; don't let the past or social media stop you.  the worst thing you can do as a poet is to stop growing.  As long as you're writing your growing so just keep writing!

If you'd like a bit of secret friendly help for your poems contact me through the Poem Polisher button below,  or email me at pitchblackpoet@yahoo.com   

 I want you to consider two things right now: plane crashes and poetry. 

Some of us might think it would be a grand gesture to write one last poem on a plunging plane -- moments before death.  

Some of us might think it would be cool if we could write a poem  that  predicted  the future. 

Lee Campbell may have come close to do doing both.

On February 25th,1989, United Airlines flight 811 experienced and emergency when a cargo door blew open, ripping a hole in its fuselage that sucked nine passengers out into the sky above the Pacific ocean.  A four minute fall to the sea waited for all of them, including the twenty-four-year-old Campbell. 

Of course it goes without saying that Campbell and the others all plunged to their deaths.  Many questions surrounded the disaster; Campbell's family remained persistent in trying to find answers. 

 One eerily interesting thing  that Campbell's parents found after their son's death  was the following poem that he'd written not long before the disaster:

`Was That Me?''
​
Waves hypnotizing me with green, beckoning fingers
A dream of space flight weightlessness
Air rushes past to fill a vacuum,
Progressive holes which must be filled

That's all there is to the poem, unfortunately.   However this little poem  says a lot, does it not?  What I'd like you to do is simply imagine that the poem was written by someone who didn't die in a plane crash. 

Is it still an interesting poem ?   

What do you make of the title ?

I have my own  thoughts as always, but for now, I'll simply say that this little fragment-poem can teach us all a lot -- it's up to us  to extract all we can from it and from Campbell's unfortunate death.

You might say that any poem can teach us a lot -- and that's true, but I still think this one's special.  I hope you do too.  Please leave a comment or send me an email or a message to let me know how you feel about it. 

Also if you'd like a set of fresh eyes for your poetic endeavors, I offer a poem polishing service. I think you'll be happy with the results, so check it out my clicking the link below. 

 You can also order my Seven Secrets of Poetry PDF by clicking the button below.

Read Lee's full story by clicking on the plane crash picture above. 

I have a question for you today: how important do you feel personal identity is to a poem? 

If you suddenly found out, for example, that a great poem like Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay" was secretly written, not by Frost, but by a ten year old girl who immigrated illegally to the United States, would it matter?

A casual brush with any contemporary literary journal -- print or online -- will show you quite quickly that identity is the driving force behind most of the poetry currently being published and ostensibly read among the academic crowds.

Similarly, if you check Spillwords, Facebook, or virtually any other content-platform where poets drop poems, you'll see a heavy preponderance of identity poetry. Race. Sexual orientation. Political affiliation.  Religious affiliation. These are predominant themes in contemporary American poetry, with a very strong emphasis on gender and race.

Most submissions guidelines nowadays stipulate that they are specifically seeking poems that focus on identity and diversity.

For all intents and purposes, the current cultural trend is most definitely geared toward celebration of identity and even more focused on a culturally-driven form of Confessionalism. In other words, rather than anthems, most culturally identified poets are, in general, writing deeply personal poems.

To be clear, I think these are all really good things. I celebrate them right along with everyone else.  But I think it does bring up a fascinating point for discussion, which is: how crucial is personal identity to poetry, actually.

Right now, in painting, artists like Jacqueline Humphries, Laura Owens, Amy Sillman, and Charline Von He are working to dissolve notions of painterly identity --  a conscious aesthetic built around the notion that by intentionally obscuring brushstroke identity, modern painters have, in effect, developed a form of expression that is new and difficult to fully categorize. In fact, the elimination of identity categories may be the only unifying factor in their works. 

Which is better for art? For poetry?

I, of course, have many thoughts and they will be forthcoming in a proper essay on the painters mentioned above so stay tuned...

Your thoughts?

Love to hear them!

Meanwhile, check out my Seven Secrets of Poetry pdf!!!  Get your easy-to-follow  guide to making your poems stronger, more memorable, and truer to your original vision.

Order it now by clicking the button below!!   

 Consider helping me out at Patreon -- and follow me at Twitter  ​@BlackstonDan  

My Seven Secrets of Poetry pdf dropped today and, like anyone who finishes up a project, I thought of something I should have added to it!

Well, on second thought, I guess I'm rather glad that I left it  out! It's an important, if often bitter, aspect of art and poetry. Yes, I'm talking about envy. Jealousy. And competition.

And the reason I'm glad that I left this topic out of the Seven Secrets of Poetry pdf is because, even though it's a super important topic, it's not something that you can easily deal with or edit away, even figuratively speaking. There's no secret for beating it on either side.

Most of us will face some form of envy or jealousy on a regular basis throughout our careers as poets. The envy can be a feeling we have for others or it can be a feeling others have for us. In either case, there some  general points to keep in mind, that seem to hold true regardless of particulars:

• Envy is an animating emotion. People who feel it, seldom do so passively. If someone envies you, one indication might be that they are frequently an influence in your life even if you don't expect them to be.
• Envy isn't actually about wanting to be like someone else; it's about wanting to be more than them. There's a desire involved that doesn't stop at equality.
• Envy combined with love and respect is where true learning and wisdom begin.
• Envy without love and respect usually leads to bitterness and sometimes much worse.
• Envy requires massive investments of time. If you put a clock on your own feelings of intense envy and kept a careful count, you'd find that even envying one person can take up hours of your day. 
• Envy is ultimately based on yourself, not others.  What you're feeling when you envy someone is actually recognition of your own unrealized potential.

Notice that I didn't say much about how to deal with people who envy you. That's because it's a lot easier than dealing with your own feelings of envy.

If people envy you, make them feel like kings and queens in your presence and truly be an inspiration.

But, you know, watch your back.

When you envy others, try to use it as a light to your own potential. Fight to be the best poet you can be. 

Yes, poets seems to trigger a lot of envy, among themselves and among non-poets. it's a truly strange phenomenon. If you have any thoughts about it, drop me a line...

Meanwhile, check out my Seven Secrets of Poetry pdf!!!   Consider helping me out at Patreon -- and follow me at Twitter  ​@BlackstonDan  

Coming September 1st!!!!!!

The seven secrets every poet needs to know to create eye-catching, ear-spinning, brain-waking, forever memorable poems.

If you want to Stop the Scroll with your poems, get published in a journal or on a  poetry website, or get one of your poems to go viral, these tips are aerodynamically designed to help make it happen.

This is a fast, fun, easy-to-read pdf brimming over with inside-knowledge I've gathered through a lifetime of writing, submitting, publishing, and editing poetry.

Features snapshot-examples, mnemonic archetypes, and humor to  guide and inspire you on your poetic journey. Create brilliant poetry with natural tools and pointers usable by any poet.

Order your copy now for $20.00!!!!!   No  payment $$$ necessary at this time, just fill out the form below!

In many ways, poetry is about sharing your secrets. Most poets know this, but few are willing to let the fuse burn to its logical explosion: full personal disclosure.

You don't have to use vertical pronouns to set the dynamite; you just have to dare to out that part of you that means most to you because it's secret. It's not the "I" that does it, it's the "you."

Poe claimed to have  had an epiphany about what would make the world's greatest book: a book called My Heart Laid Bare . But it would only be the greatest book ever written provided that the title was absolutely true.

Would you do this? Could you if you so desired?

It's not as easy as you may think. Most of us treasure our secrets. We treasure them more than we want to create great art, win fans, or express our inner-life. We'll give up "safe" secrets, but most of us would never think of parting  with our most valuable private emotions and thoughts.

But as long as you don't put everything on the table, you're not fully realizing your potential as a poet. So, if you want to make progress, but have been stymied about just what direction to take next, try following Poe's advice, and remember, if it doesn't make you tremble, blush, or cry, it's probably not the deep enough.

My forthcoming PDF Seven Secrets of Poetry is coming out on August 1st!!!  You can get a free copy of this excellent guide simply by using one of my Poetry Services. Repeat customers get a free copy of the PDF, plus deep discounts on services.

So, consider getting feedback, or a quick polish (or both) through one of the buttons below.

Inquiries to pitchblackpoet@yahoo.com

You can also pre-order the Seven Secrets of Poetry PDF right now by using the form below.  If you pre-order now, you'll only pay $10.00 -- instead of the $20.00 post-publication list price. Fill out the form below and pay nothing now. I'll send you a request for payment on August 1st.  

Those who support me over at Patreon are also eligible for a free copy of the Seven Secrets of Poetry PDF. I've  posted a lot of poetry tips, ideas, and exclusive access to my own poems over at Patreon. There's also unique pictures and  access to my flash-fiction and occult writings.

​Please help me out by supporting me at Patreon!!! 

​ Thanks so much!! 
​@BlackstonDan

A lot of poets, including myself, use secret weapons in their poems. These are better than tips and secrets; they're like super powerful, but largely unseen, strategies to really make a poem sing.

You can do it, too, but you won't have a lot of luck getting other poets to tell you their super secret weapons. You'll see the results when you read their work, count their readers, and find their poems being published, winning contest, awards and so forth.

In today's post I'm going to give you two really powerful secret weapons that many successful poets use, but pretty much don't broadcast. 

Here we go.

Poetry Secret Weapon #1:  Find a first-reader that honestly responds. It can be anyone. It doesn't have to be another writer. It doesn't have to be the same person every time; in fact it's better if it's not. Just find any person that you can bounce your first draft off of and really listen to their reaction. Don't assume you're right. If they offer an edit, or a line, or even a new title seriously consider their input. 

Poetry Secret Weapon #2:  Find an editor. Get someone to fine-tune your poems. It's virtually impossible to do it yourself. You can spend months trying to spot tiny flaws and imperfections, or you can find someone who's willing to look over your poems and see all the things you're bound to miss.  Again, it doesn't have to be the same person each time, but do yourself a favor and find one or more people willing to serve as extra eyes before you release your work to the world.

Don't use the same person as your first-reader and editor. if possible, get more than one of each.

These two tools are basically what takes place in a poetry workshop or writer's group. For many of us, this isn't an option for whatever reason, but we should still find ways to get feedback, editing, and polishing for our work.

As it happens, I offer services form interested poets. Consider getting feedback, or a quick polish (or both) through one of the buttons below.

Or simply send an inquiry to pitchblackpoet@yahoo.com

I've also posted a lot of poetry tips, ideas, and exclusive access to my own poems over at my Patreon page. There's also unique pictures and  access to my flash-fiction and occult writings. Please help me out by supporting me at Patreon!!! 

​ Thanks so much!! 
​@BlackstonDan

I'd like to thank everyone who submitted to the First Flashes poetry anthology. It's been a great experience reading your poems and responding to them. From the outset, the plan was to choose only a very small number of poems and poets to showcase in the anthology. This, of course, means that more poems had to be rejected than accepted.

If your poem was rejected, this doesn't say a whole lot about your creative capability or your poetic skills. It just means your particular poem didn't meet my current needs for this particular project.

I urge you to keep an eye on this blog, on my Facebook page, and my Twitter page to stay in the loop for soon-to-be-launched projects and future submission calls.

Just by submitting you've gained my interest and earned a well-deserved nod of admiration for your spirit and enthusiasm. I wish all the best in your future creative endeavors and look forward to sharing the published anthology with you all very soon!!!​  

If you're looking for an edge in submitting to publications or contests, consider getting feedback, or a quick polish (or both) through one of the buttons below.

Or simply send an inquiry to pitchblackpoet@yahoo.com

I've also posted a lot of poetry tips, ideas, and exclusive access to my own poems over at my Patreon page. There's also unique pictures and  access to my flash-fiction and occult writings. Please help me out by supporting me at Patreon!!! 

​ Thanks so much!! 
​@BlackstonDan

There are a lot of reasons to write and share poetry other than publishing in a  journal or posting on social media. The power of a personal poem is tremendous.

If you've ever received one, you'll know exactly what I mean. And if you've struggled to write and send one to someone special, I may have a solution for you, so keep reading.

Meanwhile, here's three reasons to send a personal poems to someone:

1) Apology. There's simply no more effective way to issue an apology than via a carefully crafted poem. If you're skilled enough you can even inject the apology with humor. If you stop and think about it, the best apologies, even when they're not literally poems, are couched in poetic language and sentiment. A poem-apology is something that shows you went the extra mile to make amends.

2) Seduction. A love-poem written from one human being to another with creativity, passion, and sincerity is one of the most powerful of all forms of expression. Yes, words can make a person fall in love with another person. They can also help both people acknowledge and explore their love.

3) Celebration. If you really want to memorialize someone, something, or somewhere  a poem is the best way. Poems are even better than monuments because they can't be torn down. 

For the most part, we focus on poems as public events and that's a great thing to do, but poetry has a more intimate side and it's nice to keep out hearts and minds invested in this mode.

If you'd like some feedback on your poems, or want some help editing or polishing a personal poem, I can help you. I've completed recent orders for:

* Marriage proposal.
* Spousal apology.
* Contest entries.
* Spoken word poetry.  

If you're looking for an edge in submitting to publications or contests, consider getting feedback, or a quick polish (or both) through one of the buttons below.

Or simply send an inquiry to pitchblackpoet@yahoo.com

I've also posted a lot of poetry tips, ideas, and exclusive access to my own poems over at my Patreon page. There's also unique pictures and  access to my flash-fiction and occult writings. Please help me out by supporting me at Patreon!!! 

​ Thanks so much!! 
​@BlackstonDan