TRANSCRIPT

I’m Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown. 

An “ars poetica” is a poem about the art of poetry itself. It offers a poet's perspective on what poetry is, and how it should be written, and what it might do for the reader. The term “ars poetica” comes from a poem written by Horace, an ancient Roman poet, in 19 BC. Horace’s poem is 476 lines long, written in the form of a letter. In this poem, Horace advises young poets on the art of writing poetry. 

His writing advice includes maxims on word choice, tone, meter, and characterization in dramatic poems. He also advises poets to show restraint, and to avoid overwriting. 

And like Horace’s “Ars Poetica,” much of the advice I’ve gotten has come to me in the form of letters. In one letter, the late poet Stanley Plumly wrote:

“You seem to be suffering from Second-Book-Itus. What’s wrong with your first book that you would so want to run away from it? My theory is that you should always try to imitate yourself, because you’ll fail every time and come up with something new. But the more you try not to, the more you will resemble yourself or the more you will freeze up. So take the pressure off. Just write good poems; the rest will take care of itself.” OOF, right?!

Many poets have written their own ars poetica poems since the time of Horace, offering their own take on poetry and their own guidance to poets. One of the things I like best is how these poems are about life as much as they are about poetry. So much of the best advice I’ve received from my own mentors applies as much to living as it does to writing: Be yourself. Tell the truth. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Try new things. Don’t let setbacks stop you.

Today’s poem calls itself an ars poetica, a love poem, and a true story. That’s a lot of work for one poem to do—a lot of layers of meaning! But this poet does speak to the precarity of it all: writing, and loving, and living. 

Ledge (ars poetica) (love poem) (true story)
by Amorak Huey

When I say ledge you immediately think of falling but it’s the opposite a
ledge is a thing we build into the emptiness so we have a place to stand. Of
course it’s dangerous risk of death and all that what do you think being
alive involves. When I say step out onto this ledge with me does it sound
like I’m talking about love or do you immediately go to the implied leap
after. Wait until you find out a bridge is where two ledges meet halfway.
Why are you always on about the abyss. No a river isn’t any better have
you ever landed on water the wrong way. You do have to watch your step
it’s true. There’s room for us here for now and now is enough let us fit our
bodies together let us balance our weight against each other let us hold on
even as the wind rises.

"Ledge (ars poetica) (love poem) (true story)" by Amorak Huey. Used by permission of the poet.