The trouble with most poetry is that
it is either subjective or objective — Basho
So listen.
You have to change.
You have to stop being yourself.
Don’t use your own voice, lose it.
Forget your likes, dislikes, how sinful you are,
salvation, damnation, heaven and hell.
Forget your cravings.
Stop looking for Ms. Right or Mr. Right,
your guardian angel, your Muse … even God.
Get yourself completely out of the picture.
And stop thinking about reincarnation,
wars, global warming, other planets, galaxies,
the expanding universe, alien invasions,
total devastation — all that objective nonsense.
Face it! You have to become so pure
you won’t see anything when you look in a mirror,
so pure you won’t hear your own breath,
won’t feel your own heartbeat, the rush of joy,
the pangs of sorrow.
You have to make sure there’s nothing left,
then write about that!
