The first rule of poetry
The first rule is don’t mention the words ear and Van Gogh
in the same stanza
The first rule in fact is don’t mention Van Gogh
The first rule is forget your old neighborhood on 13th Street
The first rule is show don’t tell
The first rule: even telling is a kind of showing
The first rule is that poetry is about utterance
The first rule is to eschew utterly egregious adjectives
The first rule is don’t write about the news
The first rule is poets don’t vote
The first rule is explain nothing in the beginning
The first rule is to begin in the middle
is to end in the beginning
is to begin at the end
The first rule: form emerges from repetition
The first rule: meaning emerges from variation
The first rule: poetry is repetition with variation
The first rule: if it can be paraphrased, it’s not a poem
The first rule: each poem is an experiment
The first rule: if you don’t fail, you’re not trying
The first rule of poetry is don’t mention Van Gogh
Guilford, 2008
Weblished: 4 September 2008, 14:13
Typeset this poem Related: art anger