I have been considering the following as the introductory poem to my first collection, The Bubble Chamber. I am wondering if my readers (all two or three of you) think that it sounds okay.
A Note to the Reader
If I were younger, and had time to waste,
I’d put a lengthy preface here. I hope
It’s okay if I start in media res.
I’m on the run. I’m dangling from a rope
Of ink above this black abyss. You face
These problems when you write. You learn to cope
With most things though—from nylons to a nuke.
It’s putting pen to paper makes me puke.
Does this diminish my artistic aura?
I lose a lot of readers in this way—
Attempting to convey the—gulp—the horror
I feel when I have something new to say.
The last thing that I want to do is bore you
To death, like my rivals do, when they
Set off with sharp machetes in their skulls
In search of fresh ideas. Nothing dulls
The senses of a writer, I have read,
Like new ideas. They’re like malaria.
One bite of those mosquitoes and you’re dead—
Hallucinating men are in the area,
Feasting on your genitals. I’ve said
Too much, I think. I don’t want to scare you.
There are no mosquitoes in this book.
There may be a few men. Let’s take a look…
3 comments:
Personally, I don't think it would be the best choice. It uses the Don Juan stanza precisely, with some neat effects, but it doesn't have the sharpness of Byron. This would put me off reading the book, if I picked it up in a bookshop. I'd rather meet the author without a prefacing speech, but that's just my preference.
I think that is a very sensible comment, sir.
Perhaps it is best to jump straight in...in media res.
nice post. thanks.
Post a Comment