How does one write
about good things, good times, good people?
Do you set the good up
on a pedestal and shine a bright,
exaggerating light on them
so that some poetry can finally
diffuse from all that brilliance?
Do you invent them
if only everything grave comes to mind
when you sit down with a cursor
hovering over a blank page?
Or do you wait,
hope and cuss
until a decent collection of words,
any words
trickle across the page?
Only to find alas,
a dimly lit piece
has made it into
a pitch black hole
also known as a body of work.
How does one write
about good things?
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Copyright © 2021 Tebogo Ndlovu
The Amateur's Quill 
Honestly when I seat to write, I do not have the vaguest idea, of what I will write, but something comes out, I guess its, because I read a lot, and it overspill, and it’s time to give, rather than take. 😊
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Oh yes, I know that feeling. I find I can write quite regularly these days. Especially when I’ve been reading. But I tend to have trouble writing ‘happy’ poetry.
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Well, the secret to write happy poetry I guess is to be in a happy mood, and for that we need to cultivate happiness, a hard task if you ask me, with so many problems we have to deal.
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Yes, that’s true. I suppose, these days, it’s easiest to find happiness in whatever simple pleasures we enjoy in our everyday lives. Maybe the real challenge is how to make beautiful poetry out of the simplest things 🤔
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Yes, the ones who do not enjoy simplicity, are condemned to complications.
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What do you like to read, if you don’t mind me asking?
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I am pretty eclectic, used to read voraciously when young, today, I am more selective, and I subscribe to the New York review of books, plus I like to browse in bookstores, and second hand bookstores, as well, now that I need to move, I find difficult to get rid of so many books, that I do not need to carry around, book boxes are heavy!
Besides my life experiences, and memories, most of my material possessions its there, I am afraid, except for my bed, a couple of chairs, my computer, clothes, and a few cooking utensils, its the tons of books that I have to move my biggest concern, every time I move I got to get rid of so many books. 🤦♂️
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Oh no. That’s so hard to do (getting rid of books). Maybe someday you could build yourself a library. Or a study whose walls will be lined with your books.
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Very unlikely, I am an old man, and my budget it’s limited, can’t have a big place large enough to have them in bookshelves, but thank you for the thought.
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Oh okay. Well, some lucky stranger will get to read them 🙂.
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Beautiful lines!👌🌹
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Thank you! 💛 💛 💛
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😊☺️❤️💕🎈My pleasure. Stay blessed always 💐
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You too! 🙂 🙂 🙂 💐💐💐💐
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write with your heart. and not with your head. try it. just let it flow, dear friend.
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Thanks for the wise words, friend 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾.
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Pingback: Whaz Up!?! Monday 13 September 2021 – The Psy of Life
I can relate to your piece. There are times when it seems easier, for me, to write sad poetry or about ills of this world. But then again nature, beauty and all other good things move me as much. Yours is a. beautiful and thought-provoking poem!
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Thank you 🙏🏾 🙏🏾 🙏🏾. Yes, I find with nature and beauty, I just like to look at it and visually appreciate it rather than confine it to words. When I do try to write about it, I’m stuck with the emotion yet zero words. Thank you for stopping by! I’m glad you enjoyed this one.
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How? Consult the Muses. Which is what Homer does and all the rest after him.
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Hi TN,
I think it was a Japanese author who once said, good people can’t write great words, only bad people are capable of that. I also think that people who have been hurt terribly can also produce something great. Another author once told me, go to the extreme of life and then come back and tell the rest of us about it. His name was Kosinski and we went on a two day binge in Bangkok. Good luck on your writing. Duke
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😄 Insightful words from both authors. Thanks for sharing! I’ve often wondered why it is pain and not its opposite that tends to produce good writing…
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