As a novice to poetry, I began

by writing poems that included

each and every detail of important 

events in my life.  

Each and every detail.

My professor gently pointed out

that to write good poetry, one must

be concise, make every word count.

“But it really happened that way,”

I retorted, to which he simply

smiled, not resorting to

enlighten me on how many

times he had heard that phrase.

Professor Burns did not teach

by making us feel bad about

our lack of writing skills, but by 

instructing us how we could do 

better, “Show, don’t tell.”

I now understand what he 

tried to say--poetry must

be true , without getting in the 

way of what we feel when we hear

it, what it inspires us to do,

we must be true to the poem

and what it conveys,

save the facts for another day.

It really happened that way.