Joy of Living Creatively

You Are a Real Poet

07.06.2023 - By Dr. Eric MaiselPlay

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Today’s episode is part of a series called “Lessons from San Francisco.” In this series I’ve chosen essays from my book A Writer’s San Francisco that I’m betting will help you deepen your connection to your creative life and motivate you to create every day. Today’s show, the sixth in the series, is called “You Are a Real Poet.”

The episode begins this way:

“For a year I dated a schizophrenic poet—let’s call her Carol. Carol was ten years my senior, very sane, and very crazy. When insane, she had visions of roses appearing, threw a bowl of poisoned pumpkin soup at the counter girl at the Owl and the Monkey, and craved pastrami. When she was sane, she was a meditative vegetarian who lived on adzuki beans and classical music. Finally she got too crazy and got herself institutionalized in the locked ward of a local hospital. When she emerged, months later, she was still broken.”

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