tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757642773669370452.post1810876729417843487..comments2023-10-18T05:15:14.274-04:00Comments on Nin Andrews: A Contented Writer?Nin Andrewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12643167108589844026noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757642773669370452.post-23334476319800439762009-03-22T14:19:00.000-04:002009-03-22T14:19:00.000-04:00That's great Rick. Thanks!That's great Rick. Thanks!Nin Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12643167108589844026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757642773669370452.post-46654802886511543142009-03-22T10:27:00.000-04:002009-03-22T10:27:00.000-04:00"A Contented Writer?" made me think of Merwin's po..."A Contented Writer?" made me think of Merwin's poem, Berryman:<BR/>Berryman<BR/> by W.S. Merwin<BR/><BR/>I will tell you what he told me<BR/>in the years just after the war<BR/>as we then called<BR/>the second world war<BR/><BR/>don't lose your arrogance yet he said<BR/>you can do that when you're older<BR/>lose it too soon and you may<BR/>merely replace it with vanity<BR/><BR/>just one time he suggested<BR/>changing the usual order<BR/>of the same words in a line of verse<BR/>why point out a thing twice<BR/><BR/>he suggested I pray to the Muse<BR/>get down on my knees and pray<BR/>right there in the corner and he<BR/>said he meant it literally<BR/><BR/>it was in the days before the beard<BR/>and the drink but he was deep<BR/>in tides of his own through which he sailed<BR/>chin sideways and head tilted like a tacking sloop<BR/><BR/>he was far older than the dates allowed for<BR/>much older than I was he was in his thirties<BR/>he snapped down his nose with an accent<BR/>I think he had affected in England<BR/><BR/>as for publishing he advised me<BR/>to paper my wall with rejection slips<BR/>his lips and the bones of his long fingers trembled<BR/>with the vehemence of his views about poetry<BR/><BR/>he said the great presence<BR/>that permitted everything and transmuted it<BR/>in poetry was passion<BR/>passion was genius and he praised movement and invention<BR/><BR/>I had hardly begun to read<BR/>I asked how can you ever be sure<BR/>that what you write is really<BR/>any good at all and he said you can't<BR/><BR/>you can't you can never be sure<BR/>you die without knowing<BR/>whether anything you wrote was any good<BR/>if you have to be sure don't writeRick Burskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05273311568761961100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757642773669370452.post-60676762636681715112009-03-21T12:41:00.000-04:002009-03-21T12:41:00.000-04:00I am content for about a day after I finish a poem...I am content for about a day after I finish a poem.<BR/><BR/>Then I think I will never--can never--write another.greg rappleyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16498560951002730878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757642773669370452.post-27483216632604590952009-03-20T14:18:00.000-04:002009-03-20T14:18:00.000-04:00I've seen those moves, Amber, and yes, I love movi...I've seen those moves, Amber, and yes, I love movies about illusionists. <BR/>And Peter, well, yes, there is joy in writing. I agree, but I never think of joy and contentment as the same thing. Joy has waves in it.Nin Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12643167108589844026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757642773669370452.post-4454103428301083712009-03-20T03:35:00.000-04:002009-03-20T03:35:00.000-04:00wow. i understand.btw, if you haven't seen the mov...wow. i understand.<BR/><BR/>btw, if you haven't seen the movies the prestige or the illusionist you should, considering your love for houdini. i thought of u as mark and i were watching the prestige tonight.. Salon Noir .https://www.blogger.com/profile/06700395759992388936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757642773669370452.post-37456921387585026892009-03-19T23:50:00.000-04:002009-03-19T23:50:00.000-04:00I'd like to think of myself as a contented writer,...I'd like to think of myself as a contented writer, Nin. Even a happy one. :-) Poetry writing is an act of joy for me. Hope this helps!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com