Where do they come from?
So oft so indeliberate…
(Joyce, by the way:
not even he uses the
bloody Oxford Comma!)
Just as thoughts, of course;
they are thoughts, after all.
Sprung somewhat articulated
with scope to shape, to shear,
to mold, to manage, to build upon,
to wonder whence appeared.
A poor trait
of the art is:
as a young man
I can’t get it,
and by the time I do
I’ll have little time
and (p’rhaps) less with which
to fill it.
First draft, first draft,
rarely written diff’rent.
Is it craft (true craft)
if all you do’s transcribe it?
Absorbent mimicry,
aping all at once together.
All
at once
together.
Aping slightly diff’rently.
A künstlerroman
(look it up)
is, I guess, the first one.
Then what is all that follows?
Mere fortsetzungs-roman?
Is it over?
Seems like it…
Yep.
Image credit – thecantillon
william altoft 