Paying Rent With Poetry

On By DanicaPicheIn Creative Writing

What a wonderful world it would be
If we could pay rent with poetry

.

There’s nothing to write.  I’m hung up by the balls.  The stories come back as fast as I can write them.  Of course, I land with poems.  But you can’t pay rent with poems…. First check in 2 months today — a lousy $50, story for a dirty magazine…. Hal, I’m down.  Can’t write.

~ Letter from Charles Bukowski to Harold Norse (excerpt), September 15, 1970.

.

What a wonderful world it would be
If we could pay rent with poetry

If we all had enough food to eat
If we all had a warm bed to sleep

If we all had shelter from life’s storm
If we were all protected from harm

What a wonderful world it would be
If we could pay rent with poetry

If we could all watch the setting sun
Resting after our day’s work is done

If we met with kind words and smiles
As we walk the roads of life’s long miles

What a wonderful world it would be
If we could pay rent with poetry

.

_________

Note:  Bukowski’s letter made me reflect on his daily life, and how much more writing he could have given us if he’d been able to pay rent with poems.  Then I imagined one possibility for such a world…the result is my poem, above.

Thank you, as always, for reading.
_________

 

 

35 thoughts on “Paying Rent With Poetry”

  7. You certainly deserve to pay rent (and have some disposable income) with your wonderful writing, Danica. I hope it happens for you. The closest I came to making money from poetry was during elementary school. I used to write poems…well, more like rhyming verse, but it counted…and I compiled all of them into a “book” called “Show ‘Em A Poem.” I tried selling them in school for $.10 each but no one was interested. One jerk, though, gave me a dime for one just so he could rip it up in front of me. The end results were: he got to be a jerk (and probably still is) and I became a paid poet. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks very much, Rich! I suppose anything is possible…. 🙂
      Rhyming verse absolutely counts! I like your title too — creative and clever. The kid who bought it just to tear it up in front of you is probably writing his own rhyming verse in prison.
      Congrats on being a paid poet! Do you happen to have any of these verses? They’d make a great feature or addition to your blog.

      Like

      Reply

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