33 Rules of Poetry for Poets 23 and Under
6 .Don’t drink and drive. Better yet, just don’t drink.
7. At the second step, should you reach it, don’t look down: You might get dizzy from the height and fall into an alcoholic heap. Trust me.
8. Read Constantine Cavafy’s great poem, “The First Step.” Meditate upon it.
9. Don’t worry if you have social anxiety at poetry events. Most everyone else will be as secretly anxious as you are.
10. Read Ed Dorn carefully, starting with Abhorrences, working your way back.
11. Remember that the greater part of it is merely show and acquired manners. Poets can be mean and they will try to kill you.
12. Ponder Bob Dylan’s classic line: “I ain’t gonna live on Maggie’s farm no more.”