Rat: I've never told anyone this before, but I'm a bit of a poet.
Mole: Well, I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably just a stage. I once had a shot on the trombone.
--from the dramatized version of The Wind in the Willows produced by the BBC. (One of many great things we heard as we drove this week.)
I imagine you can guess why I like this quote so much.
3 comments:
Hilarious. Being a poet is apparently like puberty or mono. It's unpleasant but something you eventually pass through and get over, huh?
I've been thinking lately about the way people react when I tell them I'm a writer. A few will ask what I write (and often wince when I say poetry--but that may be my fault because I am only now getting over the bad habit of saying "only poetry"). Very few ask if they can read any. The most common reaction: they start telling me about their own writing. And I'm not saying that they are actively writing. I am saying that they tell me about the Thing they wrote Once. Or they simply send it to me. (I'm usually at a loss about what they want me to do with it.)
Does that happen to you, Mark? (Actually, as I recall, I think I did that to you. :) )
You're braver than I am, Darlene. I usually don't tell people I'm a writer at all.I tell them I'm a teacher and if they press me they eventually find out I got my degree in poetry. I've found that when people hear the word poetry, they scamper away quickly lest I say, "Would you like to hear some?!"
Rita Dove, the former U.S. poet laureate, told a funny story once about being on a subway and an older woman starting a conversation with her. The lady asked Rita what she did. Rita, who was shy about proclaiming herself a poet, said, "I write." The lady beamed and said, "Isn't that great? I do calligraphy too!"
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