05/03/2009

HOW TO MAKE POETRY by Lloyd Fletcher

First, throw away this recipe. Then learn
to cook yourself; don’t be a slave
to master chefs. But taste them, know
what food you like, where your utensils are.

Preheat the mind to 98.6 degrees.
Then chill, and feel ideas condense
from fast nerves into ink-like blood
excruciating from your finger tips.

Now let it sit, coagulate,
then blend it well with aged zest.
Reform it in your chosen mold, adjust
its shape, remove the fat.

Next, marinade a little while
in logic--not till overdone: let it be
raw, with the life blood still in it.
Do this many times until it burns

to be unleashed,
naked and angry on the world.

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