In an increasingly streamlined, technological, and
competitive world of professional employment, a career in
writing poetry may seem like an impractical choice. While
the challenge of developing a professional writing career
cannot be denied, 1 perspiring poets can look to their
successful twentieth and twenty-first century counterparts
for models of sustainable career paths. These examples
demonstrate that one of the best ways to “be” a poet 2 are
to be many other things as well: 3 when writing computer
code, an individual is cultivating the same precision and
attention to detail that is required to write poetry.
Many successful contemporary poets pursue other
forms of employment, considering these jobs not as
obstacles 4 but instead of sources of inspiration. W.
S. Di Piero, an Italian-American poet, also works as a
translator; when discussing the relationship between
translation and poetry, he identified them both as a “quest
for recognitions,” noting that 5 “a translation needs a
cultural entourage.” The supplemental career does not even
need to be directly related to writing in order to provide
valuable inspiration. Consider, 6 for example, William
Carlos Williams who worked as a physician for over forty
years. Some of his most poignant poems were inspired by
his patients. In his own words, a medical career was “the
very thing which made it possible for me to write.”
7 Although they provide varying levels of financial
support, supplemental careers also broaden the experience
of individuals—and this breadth inevitably shapes their
work. For instance, the famous poet Maya Angelou pursued
diverse career paths as 8 a prose writer, producing,
civil rights activist, and more. From “Caged Bird” to “On
the Pulse of Morning,” some of her greatest poems are
grounded by her own experience in the civil rights struggle.
A poet’s experience, though, can also influence his or her
writing in more subtle ways. Luci Tapahonso, the current
poet laureate of the Navajo nation, is committed to serving
her community on local, 9 state, and national levels, a
strong sense of cultural identity pervades her work.
Poetry composition is neither an easy nor an
impossible career-it simply requires hard work, dedication,
and the commitment to writing above all else. 10 Yet
of all possible careers, perhaps writing poetry is one of
the most necessary in our contemporary context. While
coding languages and technology turn over with 11
ever-increasing, greater frequency, the words of Homer
and Shakespeare remain; even when an entire culture
disappears, writing is one of the few things that persists.
competitive world of professional employment, a career in
writing poetry may seem like an impractical choice. While
the challenge of developing a professional writing career
cannot be denied, 1 perspiring poets can look to their
successful twentieth and twenty-first century counterparts
for models of sustainable career paths. These examples
demonstrate that one of the best ways to “be” a poet 2 are
to be many other things as well: 3 when writing computer
code, an individual is cultivating the same precision and
attention to detail that is required to write poetry.
Many successful contemporary poets pursue other
forms of employment, considering these jobs not as
obstacles 4 but instead of sources of inspiration. W.
S. Di Piero, an Italian-American poet, also works as a
translator; when discussing the relationship between
translation and poetry, he identified them both as a “quest
for recognitions,” noting that 5 “a translation needs a
cultural entourage.” The supplemental career does not even
need to be directly related to writing in order to provide
valuable inspiration. Consider, 6 for example, William
Carlos Williams who worked as a physician for over forty
years. Some of his most poignant poems were inspired by
his patients. In his own words, a medical career was “the
very thing which made it possible for me to write.”
7 Although they provide varying levels of financial
support, supplemental careers also broaden the experience
of individuals—and this breadth inevitably shapes their
work. For instance, the famous poet Maya Angelou pursued
diverse career paths as 8 a prose writer, producing,
civil rights activist, and more. From “Caged Bird” to “On
the Pulse of Morning,” some of her greatest poems are
grounded by her own experience in the civil rights struggle.
A poet’s experience, though, can also influence his or her
writing in more subtle ways. Luci Tapahonso, the current
poet laureate of the Navajo nation, is committed to serving
her community on local, 9 state, and national levels, a
strong sense of cultural identity pervades her work.
Poetry composition is neither an easy nor an
impossible career-it simply requires hard work, dedication,
and the commitment to writing above all else. 10 Yet
of all possible careers, perhaps writing poetry is one of
the most necessary in our contemporary context. While
coding languages and technology turn over with 11
ever-increasing, greater frequency, the words of Homer
and Shakespeare remain; even when an entire culture
disappears, writing is one of the few things that persists.