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.

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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

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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.

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