Love Letter to Atlanta

I'm listening to The Bird and the Bee right now, which is how I arrived at my blog post title. That and the fact I will be headed back home tomorrow afternoon/evening. Long drive, here I come; I can't wait to get back home to my awesomely awesome wife who is super awesome. Want some blog post theme music?

• "Love Letter to Japan," by The Bird and the Bee
• "My Love," by The Bird and the Bee
• "Again & Again," by The Bird and the Bee
• "Come as You Were," by The Bird and the Bee

Yeah, I've been raving about this band for a while, but I can't seem to get myself sick of 'em...yet.

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Here are my two latest 2010 poem-a-day challenge poems:

057-The animal world

Let me speak of the world outside
as if it is an animal
scraping the back door and howling
into the wind, "Let me in; let
me in." Dare I rise and open
the door? What if the animal
is hungry and wants to eat me?
What if it leaves without me? Will
another come to take its place?

058-Young general

Remove the heads
of toy soldiers
because they won't
argue their fate.

Demonstrate your
blunt knife, how it
must cut until
something is done.

Always, there must
be something done.

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If you write (and when you write), do you do so with an audience in mind? I always write with an audience in mind, but that audience changes depending upon the goals I have for my writing. For instance, I write newsletters for WritersMarket.com and Poet's Market with an eye toward helping writers get their writing published (and, of course, to highlight the benefits of using Writer's Digest products and services). When I write my poetry, I am most concerned with what amuses me. In other words, I am the audience for my poetry. That said, I don't try to publish most poems I write.

When I try to place poems, I essentially try acting as a matchmaker between my poems and an audience that may be receptive to them. I don't think any poets (not blinded by their own delusions of grandeur) are ever 100% sure that what they've written will be well-received a publication's editor and/or readership. But I do wonder how many poets think about editors or target audiences as they compose their poems.

As mentioned earlier, I do picture a target audience when I write nonfiction, but I have trouble doing the same with poetry. Is it because I view poetry as art? Maybe.

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If you want, you can easily follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer

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Interested in publishing your poetry? Check out the 2010 Poet's Market, edited by me. (Click to continue.)