Ron Koertge’s 2006 poem “Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?” demonstrates how the poet uses the conventional poetic form of a free verse to treat the unusual subject of guidance to up and coming poets with sense of humor and wisdom.
The poem is separated into 6 stanzas. The poem does not have a specific form, but the stanzas seem to increase in lines as the poem is read. As the poem The poem is constructed like a guideline which makes it seem that the guidance starts out simple and as more guidance is given, the guidance is more descriptive and leads on to the most important idea. As the poem comes to an end, the stanzas begin to decrease in number of lines as if it is concluding in a simple but impactful way.
The first stanza starts out simple and short: …show more content…
Leave your house or apartment. Go out into the world. (Koertge)
However, the guideline is provided in the form of an imperative making the direction concise but effective. Koertge also cuts off the first line with a verb to make an emphasis on the first step, in which to begin writing is to take actions to put oneself out of their comfort zone. The second stanza carries on with very particular guidelines:
It's all right to carry a notebook but a cheap one is best, with pages the color of weak tea and on the front a kitten or a space ship. (Koertge)
A cheap notebook with pages of weak tea color emphasizes the insignificance of material one writes into, which perhaps provide an insight gained from personal experience. The carrying of notebook is a suggestion rather than a must. The picture of a kitten and a spaceship further demonstrates this by making the notebook trivial. The poem then moves on to provide guidelines on the environment which would help the reader bring out the writer in them:
Avoid any enclosed space where more than three people are wearing turtlenecks. Beware any snow-covered chalet with deer tracks across the muffled tennis courts.
The poem is separated into 6 stanzas. The poem does not have a specific form, but the stanzas seem to increase in lines as the poem is read. As the poem The poem is constructed like a guideline which makes it seem that the guidance starts out simple and as more guidance is given, the guidance is more descriptive and leads on to the most important idea. As the poem comes to an end, the stanzas begin to decrease in number of lines as if it is concluding in a simple but impactful way.
The first stanza starts out simple and short: …show more content…
Leave your house or apartment. Go out into the world. (Koertge)
However, the guideline is provided in the form of an imperative making the direction concise but effective. Koertge also cuts off the first line with a verb to make an emphasis on the first step, in which to begin writing is to take actions to put oneself out of their comfort zone. The second stanza carries on with very particular guidelines:
It's all right to carry a notebook but a cheap one is best, with pages the color of weak tea and on the front a kitten or a space ship. (Koertge)
A cheap notebook with pages of weak tea color emphasizes the insignificance of material one writes into, which perhaps provide an insight gained from personal experience. The carrying of notebook is a suggestion rather than a must. The picture of a kitten and a spaceship further demonstrates this by making the notebook trivial. The poem then moves on to provide guidelines on the environment which would help the reader bring out the writer in them:
Avoid any enclosed space where more than three people are wearing turtlenecks. Beware any snow-covered chalet with deer tracks across the muffled tennis courts.