Spiritual Irony Free Verse

Spiritual Irony Free Verse by David Stone

 The most passionate spiritual moment
 lasted all morning
 in Hershey, Pennsylvania,  
 but had nothing to do with chocolate.

See also: I will see you later

Spiritual Irony Free Verse is a poem that sort of arrived.

I’ve written poetry since my early teens, and I once thought about making it a career. That is, I dreamed of becoming the next Walt Whitman, and then, I learned that the world wasn’t looking for one.

But I kept writing. It was sometimes in fits and starts. Not having readers will do that.

I finally realized that readers don’t really matter. Write down what you’re given, edit thoughtfully but not excessively, and readers will find it.

And it became clear that I had no choice. I wrote in my head all the time, anyway. I might as well practice the art, get some of it down on paper.

Well, digital paper, which is all Spiritual Irony Free Verse has gotten so far. My book 21 Poems was already on the street when the lines streamed across my mind.

I read when I was a kid that a “major poet” was one who read his or her own work. At the time, I struggled to believe that a career in verse was possible, but I guess I made it.

I still love reading my own poems. Some haven’t aged as well as others, but nobody said you had to read all of them to be “major.”