Saturday, July 3, 2010

If You Have to Be Sure, Don't...

So the US has a new Poet Laureate, WS Merwin. I'd never heard of a Poet Laureate til this morning, or WS Merwin for that matter. But he's a two time Pulitzer Prize winner, which I suppose in the literary world, is something fairly significant.

It's sounds so deliciously medieval, doesn't it? Poet Laureate... It basically means giving occasional appearances to promote the importance of poetry. I think it's a shame that writing, like most of the arts, is confined almost within a subculture. We all went to school, writing, creating, discovering...why does the fun stop just because we grow up? WS Merwin is 82 and just now doing his most recognized work.

There's something very tremulous and vulnerable about creating something. Maybe if you do it often enough, that sense diminishes, but I think the question, 'is this really any good?' is the shared insecurity of people who try. I have a half finished painting sitting on my kitchen counter that is literally freaking me out. It seems crazy to care so much about something that will only ever probably adorn a dark closet in my house, but I do. I like this WS Merwin poem - it addresses that question, too.

“I had hardly begun to read

I asked how can you ever be sure

that what you write is really

any good at all and he said you can’t

you can’t you can never be sure

you die without knowing

whether anything you wrote was any good

if you have to be sure don’t write”


If you have to be sure, don't write, don't paint, don't sing, don't dance...
What a wasteland the world would be if not for the brave souls, willing to not be sure.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree! But, who has grown up?
R

Erin said...

Thanks for being one of those brave souls :)

2sunset said...

Amen, brave sistah!