THE UNEXPECTED PAYOFF OF POETRY

o pay an artist

TIs to invest in new seeds To plant deep within

I’m not precious about the way I try to reach out and change the world. Poetry for me is a means, not an end. Poetry is the canoe to cross the river, not the burden to carry up the mountain a la Fitzcarraldo. Ask me why I have written impromptu typewriter poems on demand for the past ten years, and I’ll tell you it is because it became apparent that it was simply the most sustainable way to practice the literary artform. It was the one way that I could get paid to write and perform, as well as a way for me to create a positive impact through one-on-one interactions with strangers, and create a ripple effect of opportunity through employment opportunities for fellow writers. I’m good at it, the world needs it, I like doing it, and I can make a living from it: The “why” for me was as easy for me as ikigai.

IKIGAI: the Japanese concept of discovering your life’s purpose through four measurements

• that which you love • that through which you can earn a living • that which you are good at • that which the world needs

It was the “how” that wasn’t always easy though—it rarely is for writers of any genre, but especially for poets. Broadway and the movie biz have done an incredible job of commercializing and cementing their role in our economy and culture. Visual artists have blue chip galleries and a glitzy world of international art fairs to lure the moneyed classes into their orbit. Chefs and fashion designers are high profile, highly paid, and show up on magazine covers and morning talk shows. The literary arts has the publishing industry, sure, but it is insular, exclusive, hierarchical and hypocritical (sorry but where is the lie) and not exactly a tourism draw or a hub of “exciting” (read: expensive) cultural activity. Even though our words are