So I am even less productive with covid. I am better but still foggy. I would like to write surreal poems since the world seems so hazy, but the words keep slipping off the page onto the floor.

Since nothing is bubbling up, let’s take an old poem and make it better or maybe just break it for fun. Perhaps it’s time to take a scalpel or an ax, possibly dynamite, to a poem that just isn’t working for you.

The advice “kill your darlings” is one you may have heard. Often it refers to overly flowery language that while beautiful doesn’t push your poem or story forward. For me it is often the stumbling at the beginning of a poem before taking off or editorializing phrases or hiding behind poetic conventions.

As discussed in a previous post on editing, try splitting your poem into two halves, using the bottom half as the beginning and writing a second half and writing a beginning for your previous first half. Sometimes the heart of the poem is four or five lines from the bottom line; find that line and start there. Or you can take your last line and use it as your starting point. Replace all of your verbs with their antonyms. See what happens.

After you’re finished, see what you think of the new version. If the edited version is a lurching Frankenstein’s monster, put it down. Walk away. You are still writing even if what you got was practice rather than a poem. And if that doesn’t seem enough, ask for suggestions from a reader or writing group you trust. Or from another entity.