Manifesto #313

I love this inaugural prompt from fertile ground, the new site that Jill and Carolee started. They ask that we write our poetic statement, or manifesto if you will, for why we write poetry. Manifestos have been on my mind lately, for a couple of reasons. Coincidentally enough, I was planning on writing an article for Poetic Monthly on the poetic manifesto by the end of the month. (Deadlines!) I've also been writing a lot of manifestos lately.

So here's the current incarnation of my poetic manifesto, which I wrote on the bus this morning.

Why Do I Write?

I always come back to the idea that I write because I have to. But I don't have to. I would survive without writing. I would live and breathe and eat and talk and sleep and make love, with or without writing. But I feel a compulsion towards expression, towards ordering, labeling, and deciphering the world around me. Without writing, I would feel surrounded by a gray monotony, like I had 550 channel cable with nothing ever on.

I write because it is difficult -- it takes strength, perseverance, discipline, and bravery, qualities I've never truly felt that I possessed. Yet, I spend hours each week writing and revising and putting my words out into the world, despite all the reasons to hide. On the page, I become strong, brave, disciplined and committed and I can see for a brief glittering second what I could become.

Most importantly, I write because I believe in the transformative power of language. Words are thoughts transformed into action. By writing, I create the world I believe in, the world I want to live in. I express my half-formed ideas and my hopes and truths and secrets, and I can see the slide towards action.


Edit: The image is not my own -- it is Joseph Beuys' 1970 Fluxus Manifesto. Sorry for the confusion.