Books

The Poems To Read If You Need A Little Bit Of Inspiration

Hannah Burton for Bustle

Anyone who calls themselves a writer knows that revision is no walk in the park — unless, of course, that saying was invented by a writer who knew that parks are just really sites of distraction, AKA time when you're not working on your writing, AKA trouble. Revision is hard work, even when it's fun. (And yes, sometimes, it gets to be totally fun.) When the fun quotient is zero and the work is beyond arduous, you may be tempted to... well, do just about anything. (That's how bad revising can be!) Fortunately, you can save yourself the agony of totally losing your writer vibe by doing some reading that's guaranteed to help you revise. Folks, you know I'm talking about poems.

Another writer's novel might get in your brain, and turning to a perfect short story can just incite wordsmith envy, but a poem is the surefire solution to upping your revision game. For starters, even if you read the poem to give yourself a breather, you'll feel virtuous, like you're doing literary work. But more importantly, these poems will help you re-see your process. They'll help you gain some perspective on what it means to be crafting something out of words.

Put down that red pen or Post-It note, writer, and read one of these seven poems.

1

"Kafka's Axe & Michael's Vest" by Chen Chen

Days like this, the right silence can be an action, an axe,
right through the frozen sea, as Kafka calls for. A necessary
smashing,
opening. Though silence can also be a shattering, closing.

Click here to read.

2

"Painting vs. Poetry" by Bill Knott

poetry
is the shadow writing its
name upon the person.

Click here to read.

3

"Aubade to Langston" by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

I listen to you again beneath the mercy
of a blue morning’s grammar.

Click here to read.

4

"The Perfect Poem" by Kaveh Akbar

The perfect poem is no bigger
than a bear. Its birthday hat comes with
a black veil which prattles on and on about
comet ash and the ten thousand buds of
the tongue.

Click here to read.

5

"Delta Flight 659" by Denise Duhamel

Look, Sean Penn, the clouds are drawn with charcoal pencils.
The sky is opening like a child’s first stab at penmanship.
The sun begins to ripen orange, then deepen.

Click here to read.

6

"On Gathering Artists" by Alberto Ríos

How easy to spend a day writing a poem,
How hard to spend a life writing a thousand.

Click here to read.

7

"Dream of Heaven" by Chard de Niord

I’d read and read since I’d be done
with sleeping, but dreaming, no, still dreaming
a lot. I’d live to live again with moments
of dying to see how “lucky” I was.

Click here to read.