How to Be a Poet—Wendell Berry
With a bonus poem from Wendell Berry aficionado, Matt Wheeler
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When brainstorming for a post that grew into “Ten New Poems About Writing Poetry,” I asked the Rabbit Room poetry group, the group of thirty or so poets who help make the poetry selections from the submissions for this Substack, what their favorite poems about writing are. Several people mentioned Wendell Berry’s much-loved poem “How to Be a Poet.”
I said, “That is a great poem, but we can’t publish it without permission.”
Matt Wheeler, a Wendell Berry aficionado himself, quickly replied, “Why don’t I just write him a letter and ask?”
My answer was, "Matt, way to be an over-achiever. Yes, please. Do write him. What fun."
And that is what he did. On paper.
Here is the letter Wendell wrote in return:
Without further ado, here is Berry’s classic poem, reprinted with permission. ;)
How to Be a Poet
by Wendell Berry
(to remind myself) i Make a place to sit down. Sit down. Be quiet. You must depend upon affection, reading, knowledge, skill—more of each than you have—inspiration, work, growing older, patience, for patience joins time to eternity. Any readers who like your poems, doubt their judgment. ii Breathe with unconditional breath the unconditioned air. Shun electric wire. Communicate slowly. Live a three-dimensioned life; stay away from screens. Stay away from anything that obscures the place it is in. There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places. iii Accept what comes from silence. Make the best you can of it. Of the little words that come out of the silence, like prayers prayed back to the one who prays, make a poem that does not disturb the silence from which it came.
If you are wondering what poem is that Wendell Berry refers to in his letter, Matt enclosed one of his own excellent, Berry-inspired poems. Here it is.
Gleanings
by Matt Wheeler
Each still sliver of March snow Adorns the good earth In a membership, & not alone So we are members, one of another In our shared life of quiet work We, sisters, & brothers A canticle of love, & pain, & dignity To go by singing, to go by laughing, To go by light, lighting on me In this elegy, this hard history Of this love, & loss, & cost Of this shared presence, this holy mystery
If you enjoyed this poem, press the like button above. The poems with the most likes get collected in the “Top Poems” section of the Homepage.
I love both poems, and Berry's generosity and wisdom encourage me greatly. I especially love that he started with a note that this "advice" is to remind himself.
I love "Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment. "
:)