Poetry

I don’t get it!

It's supposed to be difficult.

It’s stupid!

A good poem will come just short of resisting your intelligence.

FUCK I DON'T GET IT

Keep reading.

It doesn’t make any sense.

Read it until you understand.

How will I know that I understand?

The same way you know when sex has finished.

What?

It's obvious to you, isn't it. But you can’t explain it to me, can you?

Not without being vulgar.

That's why some people write poetry.

Few people who understand poetry write it.

The majority of poetry writers are would-be poets,
who ask themselves: What is a poem?

And the answer is: Something that doesn't quite make sense.

So then they write something that doesn't quite make sense,

and the result is a lot of bad poems masquerading as good poems.

The difference is equivalent to that

between the feeling produced by internet porn

and the felt reality of human love.
Those unfamiliar with the latter

should steer clear of the former.

If you’re interested in understanding poetry,

pick a poem by a universally acclaimed poet

study it until you feel insane

and don't ever, ever give it up.

Focus, patience, and attention to detail

will make every poem laid before you seem beautiful.

Focus, patience, and attention to detail are what the poem asks for,

and unless you’re a selfish prick, you won’t feel satisfied until you’ve matched the effort of the poet.

But don't take my word for it.

People who need to be assured that they have a purpose

lead purposeless lives.

People who need to be told that there is a point to it all

rarely find a point in it all.

Because that's something you have to do yourself.

Most people don't know that the end of a poem

only occasionally comes

in the last line

of the last stanza,
and often it comes too soon.

Most people don't know how to end poems like these,

but I do.