Poet at Rest

If you click the picture above and go to timestamp: 13:33 you'll hear Sylvia Plath talk about the experience of writing a poem and of being "a poet in rest."

I'll come right out and say: I dislike being a poet in rest and do my best to avoid being one. Even when I'm not actively writing, I'm thinking about poetry a lot, reading poetry, and trying to experience life and my emotions as deeply as possible -- with the aim of not only living to the fullest, but also of writing to the fullest.

There's nothing wrong with this.
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In fact, if you want to reach your potential as a poet, it's probably necessary. In all other pursuits in life, from  sports to music, engineering, or just running a small business, those who excel are often those who put themselves 100% into their passion and ambitions.

Sylvia Plath died at the age of thirty. Before she perished, she wrote and published two volumes of poetry, a novel, and dozens of individual poems. She, along with Robert Lowell and Anne Sexton gave birth to the Confessional movement in American poetry, but this is the least her accomplishments. 

If you listen to the interview, you'll hear Plath's contagious joy for poetry and for creation. This is the point of it all, and as a poet, you should as much as you can and you should push as hard as you can to reach your fullest artistic potential. Plath pushed hard every day, so hard, in fact, that she heroically carved out a poetic genius that many falsely assume was her gift from birth.

Face it, at some level, none of us really likes being a poet in rest, we're always just waiting for the next breath of inspiration. So be ready and willing to take flight whenever it comes, no matter who tells you otherwise. 

Poems Written Tally: 292
Submission Tally: 47
Rejections: 17 (10 tiered)  
Acceptances: 0
Poem written today: "Sea Bee"​  

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