all i do is poetry

quite a claim, i know.  some kinda humble bragging, right.  but hear me out.  i take eileen tabios' ethos quite seriously, 'life in poetry.'  to say it in another fashion, also from ms. tabios, via the possibly fictive danish poet, paul la fleur, 'to be a poet is not about writing a poem.  it is finding a new way to live.'

& boy, do we need to find new ways to live.  the horrors of the disrupted climate are here & will get worse.  i read early this summer from a climate scientist that this summer of 2021 is the coolest we will know in our lifetimes.  

plus, the ordinary matters of trying to be a good person, a decent citizen, in a civilization that seems determined to kill itself.  the wonderful, late poet michael dennis wrote that being a good person is more important than being a good poet. 

tho i would like to add a wrinkle to michael's ethos, that to be a good poet also means one must be a good person.  i know the evidence is abundant that this is not the case.  but for me, the limited, sentient human being that i am, being a good poet is predicated, dependent upon, being a good human being. 

i won't bore you with examples of goodness.  make of my statement what you will.  but i will say that the practice of kindness is paramount in finding a new way to live, in poetry, & in the ordinary things we do to live.

such as doing steady work to support ourselves & our families.  being a loyal family person.  being a loving partner & parent.  etc etc.  the poet can live life at a slant to society & still be a good citizen.  e.g. i was googling long lost poet friends.  i found that these friends migrated to other digital platforms.  i love seeing their pics posted on instagram holding their grandchildren.  seeing their work lives on linkedin & reading that they are good at their jobs as well as being good poets.  for poetry is indeed life.  & any work a poet does to support herself, her art, & her family is a boon.  

not that i know the best way to be a poet.  or be the best poet.  i fucking have no clue about those things.  i don't really care either.  it does matter a great deal to me that i do my best to be a good person in an increasingly chaotic civilization.  i am glad i have my family, poetry, friends in poetry, movies, music etc etc & the relative freedoms to explore my arts.  for i wish to live in poetry as a good person at the best of my ability.  as the poet said, my life is made of the world.  i will do what i can.