T.S. Eliot Said Poetry Must Be Amusing

This is why I say poetry are our jazzy, wiggly uncontrollable babies

It's Ericajean
3 min readSep 9, 2022

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Photo by Guillaume Meurice from Pexels

I am pregnant with poetry.

This is a surprising fact because when I used to think of the process of poetry, I would try to come up with words to express where I am coming from by avoiding prose altogether. I used to think that poetry was just a few lines of really good soul grabbing words published or slammed on a stage.

Not so anymore.

I think of poetry as a fetus growing inside of me, taking all that I experience, all of my nutrients and then once I am waddling, sweating, fighting and going through the birth pains of twisting the right words to say, finding the verbs to convey all that I want to show —

Poetry bursts forth.

…And so I am crushed like Xerox in a fist.
Crumbled like graham cracker under a pillow of
cold cheese —
I am a bed of metaphors ~From a rough draft

It’s a funny thing because, it is the Muse that make love to us. Nurtured by gentle talks, Shakespearean readings and a bit of Emily Dickinson seducing my eyes and ears and I don’t look to any poetic rhyming dictionary…yet. I stick with what I know.

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It's Ericajean

Essayist and poet | Author of Rumors of Ouroboros . Learn more about Erica at https://linktr.ee/itsericajean/