Working Title

Two more octaves about revision stemming from something completely other...

Tempered ink of first draft written
Has us anything but smitten
Dictionary and thesaurus
Scheme to underwhelm ‘n’ bore us
Hand besieged by manic pen
Yet, Truth demands we start again
Only thoughtful alteration
Can improve nascent creation

Foregone made is this decision
That we take up said revision
Strive to make each poor word better
Pay attention to the letter
Of the law that writers follow -
Misery in which we wallow –
Even when we think we’re done
A writer’s job has just begun

© Jeff Wilson, 2013 

Frost Inspired Revision-ary

I am trying to model a new assignment to use "Nothing Gold Can Stay" as the inspiration for an original poem. Students are to explore one of the themes we've discussed from The Outsiders with the poem's structure and rhyme scheme as their guide.

As it turns out, the assignment may end up being a lesson in revision. The first eight lines are the original "rough" draft. I abandoned it and came up with another eight lines that "sound" better to my ear. I'm looking forward to seeing how this lesson plays out over the next week.

Nothing Originally Written Can Stay

Full of naïve youth
We quest for thorough truth
But growing up so fast
Aside the search is cast
‘Til lifetime thence we learn
Truth we cannot spurn
And in our waning age
We earn Truth’s honest wage

Searching for direction
Seeking the right connection
To prove, somehow, our worth
For time spent on this earth
Our quest is incomplete
Until the One we meet
And even then won’t start
‘til we know and share our heart

© Jeff Wilson, 2013