how much
sometimes i’m asked how much i get paid
for a poem as if it is a gauge on the worth of the poem and me and i don’t
answer because for me the money has never been a part of writing poetry and
although now and then a few bucks come my way through a book or paying
publication or gig or prize that’s just an occasional appreciated bonus because
i’m going to write poetry anyway payment or not as it’s what i do and have
always done and so when asked how much it feels like i need to justify my
poem’s value in a capitalist statement when i’m more interested in whether the
poem i’ve written says what i want it to and if i took the best approach to
represent the thought that fuelled it and if i enjoyed the process of creating
it and if it found a worthy home and how lucky i am to have poetry in my life and
that’s why i don’t answer how much and instead smile and let who ever asked it
guess how much or research the paying status of the journal the poem may be in or
look into what the average poet’s income is for i don’t ask them how much they
get working in whatever they do and i know my poetry is not validated by what i
get or don’t get and while i’m not pissed off by being asked how much as people
can ask what they choose to i do think when i am asked it is a bit rude to ask
how much
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Stephen House has won
many awards and nominations as a poet, playwright, and actor. He’s had 20 plays
produced with many published by Australian Plays Transform. He’s received
several international literature residencies from The Australia Council for the
Arts, and an Asialink India literature residency. He’s had two chapbooks
published by ICOE Press Australia: ‘real and unreal’ poetry and ‘The Ajoona
Guest House’ monologue. His next book drops soon. He performs his acclaimed monologues
widely. Stephen’s play, ‘Johnny Chico’ has been running in Spain for 4 years
and continues.
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