Poem: Wannabe Rats by Michael Loren Butkovich

Photo Source: Unsplash

Wannabe Rats

Welcome to Poetry 101, before we begin, please ensure you’re in the right place.

Anyone, no… okay, with that settled, let’s begin…

statured from the podium

Now… many of you will believe that taking such a course… a course of poetry, of creative writing, is the first step in becoming a published –poet. True, in a sense it is. And in this idea, some may believe it’s merely a matter of tossing up a blend of words within rhyme… rhyming words of observation… an idea, or of thoughts regarding some… deep questioning philosophical notion… expressed within a rhythmic rhyming of phrases. And that, in time… the achievement in becoming a –true poet, is to be published. Coming in time if you, keep at it. In speeding this process… some… wannabes of publication, may go as far as attempting to mirror those of the past, in adopting a smoldering persona. An introvert of a dark personality… a smokey mystical aura… a bohemian of a persona that are all at one time or another, and still is in fact, associated with poetry and poets. Moodiness… mystery, fashioning an intellectual realm of sulkiness… in mimicking the 1950s beatnik in being cool, hip… walking outside the norms of society.

slowly pacing the front…

 Taking on a James Dean personality if you will. Who just happened to have been a great reader and admirer of poetry himself. Yes- those beatniks and bohemians among you will likely desire in gathering at a dive of quiet pub or traditional coffeehouse that plays jazz. Yes, beatnik coolness… like in Snoopy’s persona of Joe Cool in sunglasses, wearing a French beret while frequenting a coffeehouse… poets are associated with greatly… all flavored in savory doses of French clove nicotine and brewed bottomless caffeine… of course, with… the occasional hip hemp herbal influx… for those craving, a creative boost of deeper perceptions.

touring the room…

Speaking of which… there are furthering beliefs and questioning activities, associated with poets in achieving literary greatness… in breaking through the “blockades” all artists must face. Whether it be the struggles of the blank page, the blank canvas, or a blob of unshapen clay. In breaking through these blocks an inspiring artist may indeed look to adopting what noted artists used. To swim within the green fairy waters as Poe did. Or in more modern times… say… as in Bukowski, swimming within a nightly bottle of grapes. Still others… like Kesey looked to heavier inspirations, via magical redcaps… laced sugar cube or that of a tab square depicting a cartoonish print of Saturn or even –Micky Mouse. Then there is those who went heavy in becoming dragon chasers… like Coleridge and Elizabeth Browning. I for one, have always found, favoring results… in that of following Jonathon Swifts addiction in a cup of java… with my addition of a clove ciggie or stogie –now and again.  

still touring about, stopping here and there…speaking directing face to face to one student, while addressing the whole of the class…

No, no matter the poison, the goal was and still is the same… all fresh new wannabes as ever so much those established already published, seek in continuing carry the mantle of published poet. And in this desiring goal… are willing to take what short cuts in finding that mantle of gold, called… “validation”.

stoically in front of the class

And in this, I say to you young wannabes… and to those of a more studious, scholarly ambition. It’s total excrement.  

So, let me set you straight in how it works, and in why… we do what we do.

hands in trouser pockets, continuing in pacing and strolling about… looking down, now and then out the window or towards the class as a whole…

No. It’s not in adopting any cool persona or hip attitude or any of the old tricks past poets used. Especially not so in the usage of various stimulations that Keats or Kensy have been noted to have used in lubricating their creative juices.

And it’s certainly not for the validation and recognition or fame. Not for any pay dirt nether. I can tell you that, if not, I’d not be here in having to support myself… for truthfully, I will tell you, little riches that came to the most successful of poets in their own lifetime… was not that much.

Also, it’s not for the bragging rights of your scribblings and scrabbling of incoherent words of rhyme in rhythmic timing –that we write.

And it’s certainly not for or should not be solely –for the ego high one gets in seeing one’s name and work in print.

It is certainly not for the gaining of bohemian followers… beatniks and weirdo fans who’ll come to idolize you for what you’ve written…. groupies who’ll hoard treasure scraps of fading autographs, first editions and once owned objects by you… excavate on eBay in collecting all they can associated to you. Just ask Stephen King if he enjoyed any of his overly obsessed –stalking fans.

still smirkingly grinning… pacing still…

No, in the end, the toiling and work slaved over… of what few can see and feel in between the words and the lines… in discovering only… after digging deep within their own souls, after reading your words over and over… in grasping the true meaning hidden beneath the surface… deep in the middle… discovered only after hours in pondering and tilling your work over till… they finally get “it”        –striking their brain pans like an inky spark of clarity… in revealing your true meaning… these individuals who’ve reflected upon your words rather than in merely heard them… in taking them “into” themselves… in being “moved” by them… touched, affected and forever changed…. these… these very few who’ve come to understand, come to see what you’ve really had to say… eons after you’ve been boxed under… “are” who we write for in being “heard”.

strong vocal and facial expression –locking eyes with each and every student possible, pace lurching about…

These admirers of your work will lead your work towards its true “goal” all poets desire… if you’re lucky enough one day be noteworthy that is… as in Wordsworth-worthy… of study… suitable to be considered and included within a curriculum. To be pondered over. Examined. An alchemist you’d be liken to, who wrestled within his own mind and soul… pulling from depths of himself, verses and words that touch hearts and souls of readers…. in “being heard” … is why we work and toil within the craft. Pouring out our inky life’s-blood, in penning our dribbling’s… leaving behind our words, long after our poets’ bones turn’t to dust…. in hopes of those words being something worth –considering.

behind the podium once again…

In wrapping things up for today… perhaps amongst you little crispy triscuits –may just be a Kipling… a Whitman, a Plath… an Emily Dickinson or even a Rat Billings… oh yes, Billings I include herein –as much a fictional rat that he is, laying six inches under dust of some forgotten video collection somewhere… grinningly knowing now his fictional poets reward in having become now, noteworthy to be studied and –considered.

strong statement delivery…

“This…” is why we, Wannabe Rats of poetry –write.

Class dismissed.

BA English at UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) 2018 Honors/Dean’s List. Induction: Sigma Tau Delta International English Honors Society 2018. Publications within Sagebrush Review, RFD Press, Seaside Gothic and Rogue Planet Press.