Field Notes: How I became a poet

Oliver Kleyer

–

for Robert Kroetsch

When I started writing
I hated poetry.
I always wanted to be
a novelist.
When I had finished the first page
of my first novel,
I was so excited,
I ran down the stairs
to show it to my mom.
Of course, I tripped,
tumbled and fell.
When I came to again,
the words on the page had
scattered and rearranged themselves.
That’s how I became a poet.

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Oliver Kleyer is a teacher and poet from Northern Germany. He writes in German and English. His poems have appeared in The Creative Zine, One Art, Five Fleas (Itchy Poetry) and elsewhere. find him at libraries, at state fairs or botanical gardens.

Twitter: @funnyfrogget