You Can Write Poetry

Mock's book qualifies as a great achievement, not only as a guide to writing poetry, but also as a guide to studying poetry. The study of poetry in the 21st century faces many of the same obstacles as the study of jazz. (My authority to make this comparison derives from my continuing status as an obscure but perseverant practitioner of both arts.) In both instances, the linear path from orthodoxy to chaos was exploded almost two generations ago, leaving massive quantities of scattered debris and a vague longing for some unique recipe affirming the "warm-fuzzy" attributes of structure without the "over-controlling" implications of externally curtailed freedom. Mock seems to have arrived at just such a recipe, offering structures less as imperatives and more as menu offerings while gently encouraging reader/followers to learn the rules in order to confer more credibility on any later decisions to break them. Anyone familiar with the building blocks of poetry will quickly observe that Mock offers "nothing new" to their inventory. Instead, Mock has developed a highly useful method - and sequence - of introducing them. The exercises in the first two chapters are particularly well conceived. More experienced poets will find them useful as vehicles for climbing out of a rut and flushing out new sources of ideas. The later exercises flow easily from this earlier foundation until - lo and behold - verses emerge. As with meditation and sex, smart novices will benefit from disciplining themselves to view experiences with rigorous disjunctive independence rather than lapsing into tedious "not as good as last time" lamentations. But again, this book's audience should not be limited to individuals seeking to write poetry. Instead, it should serve as a companion volume for any undergraduate survey of poetic literature. How better to equip potential future audiences with the tools necessary to navigate their own investigation of works that span the distance from bards to beats and beyond? The discussion of rhythms, arguably the "music" of poetry, is particularly interesting. (As a jazz pianist, I amuse myself with inquiries that view the ageless "iamb" as a precursor to "swing." Perhaps a more detailed consideration of this concept will reward some starving academic with tenure and a raise in salary - but I digress . . .). That Mr.(Dr.?) Mock hails from Southern Connecticut State University (formerly "Southern Connecticut Teacher's College", the venerable spawning ground for so many of those patient souls who suffered with me as a student during my "school years" along the Connecticut shore) is another positive aspect of this book for me.

I am a leader of a creative writing group. We decided to do poetry in our group as lessons. I have read this book before and decided to use it again for this project. From the members of The Society for Creative Writers in Salina, KS, this is the best book out there for poetry. If you are in a writing group and planning to do a learning session with poetry from a text, use this book as your text, trust me, your fellow members will be glad that you choose it.

I have to admit that I am a bit skeptical about a book series such as this one and about a book with a title like this. Could it really be that simple? YES. Jeff Mock's book provides the perfect blend of anecdote, writing samples, exercises, advice, and knowledge to help anyone begin to write poetry. While Jeff Mock seems to be highly intelligent, his text is accessible even for the beginning poetry writer. His poems are excellent. I like that he made poetry terminology understandable. His exercises have resulted in many, many poems. Thanks, Jeff Mock!!

I read many books on writing poetry. I picked this up at the same time I did 6 others. While I read this book I ended up writing a dozen poems before I had finished reading it. I have read the others and wrote very few poems in comparison to this one book. I am planning on reading this book again in 2001 I may very well end up writing another dozen poems.

THis book is the best, I had to do a poetry project and it helped me alot