Friday, September 16, 2011

The Writer's Chant (Butt in Chair) - a poem for writers and all creatives

THE WRITER'S CHANT (BUTT IN CHAIR)
by
Greg Pincus

Butt in chair. Butt in chair.
Minutes here, an hour there.

The work is hard, but I’ll get through it;
It won’t get done unless I do it.

Sit me down. Glue me there.
Keep my butt, butt, butt in chair!


This poem was inspired by a lot of the "we gotta do the work" buzz I heard at the last SCBWI summer conference, a pinch of Ray Bradbury, and the phrase "butt in chair" which I probably first ran into due to the remarkable Jane Yolen. And, of course, it was inspired by my wanting to hear whole classes of kids doing call and response to the last line in particular. But that's just me :-)

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by Amy over at the Poem Farm. Go on over and check out the poetic fun.

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9 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

Taking a procrastination break from revising, I read this and giggled... aaaand went back to work.

::sigh::

Lee Wind, M.Ed. said...

cute! thanks for creating and sharing... And now, to put my butt in chair!
Namaste,
Lee

Laurie L Young said...

I am an expert in BIC (sitting comes naturally to me.) It's the WOP (Words on Page) part that still stumps me. I can stare at a screen for hours . . .

Amy L V said...

So true. So true. I'm opening my notebook tonight. This is a reminder I need every day - it's about the
W-O-R-K! A.

GatheringBooks said...

I feel though that I have my butt in the chair all the time - typing away. Can I just run run run away from the chair too on occasion? And feel the wind in my face? Haha.

Love this poem. :) Thank you for sharing.

Mary Lee said...

Perfect.

Sending this to a friend with a book deadline in 3, 2, 1, NOW!

Rogerdebris said...

No! You can't make me! And even if you do, you can't stop me from sitting there clicking on blog links to funny poems! YOUR CHANT SHALL NOT SHAME ME!

Anonymous said...

Love your poem!
Love your poem!
I'm puttin' it up
Inside my home!

Ann Wagner

Kathleen O'Dell said...

Okay, I have the "Butt In Chair" down quite nicely. My problem is when I look up at the clock and it's 5:45 and I have to drag my butt OUT of the chair to start dinner. The people at my neighborhood Pollo Loco are going to love this poem. Ka-ching!
Kathleen