Friday, December 30, 2011

Challenge: Dear Reader

I've always been told that when I'm writing, I should write for me, not for the reader.  Picturing the reader can be stifling, and I think that the idea is that in writing for ourselves, we're more likely to delve down into raw emotions and places we'd not likely otherwise explore.  It can always be edited later, but I find that in writing a poem for myself, rather than for a reader, I enjoy it more.

Well, Billy Collins wrote his poem, "Dear Reader," with the reader clearly in mind.  In fact, the whole poem addresses the reader directly:  

You could be someone I pass on the street  
or an indistinct face                                          
behind the wheel of an approaching car,      
sunlight flashing off the windshield.                

You can read the entire poem here.

So your challenge is to write a poem addressing your reader, or readers.  Confront them, confess to them, plead with them, argue with them - but address the readers.  Good luck!

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