Poetry & the Recession

I retired just before the Great Recession steamrolled the national economy. Now I am back at work, self-employed, selling off some of my unneeded stuff on Amazon and eBay while also writing two books and several screenplays and waiting for producers to find enough money to shoot some of my optioned movie projects.

Almost nobody buys poetry, even in good times. In the midst of a recession, it is an even harder sell.

Yet millions of us write it and try to get it published and wish someone would pay us for it.

I actually made a few bucks from poetry a number of years ago. Rolling Stone paid me $10 each for a couple of poems when Joe Esterhaus was still their poetry editor. Equally long ago, the Denver Post paid me a few dollars for a couple of poems used as fillers.

There were a few other small sales, and sometimes, someone passed the hat when I did a reading in a bar or coffeehouse. The biggest take, I recall, was $6.

Over a period of 40-plus years, I would estimate that I have made about $300, at most, from writing poetry and selling copies of my poetry books. That averages out to about $7.50 a year, or maybe enough to buy a hamburger and eat my words.

On that note, I would like to announce that I still have available three autographed copies of my first poetry book, "Waiting for Water." Want one? You can use Paypal to send $1.25 plus $1.75 shipping and handling ($3.00 total) to si@sagecreekproductions.com.

If I sell all three and bring in $9, I'll consider this a banner year for poetry. And, once again, I'll probably buy a meal and eat my words.

Thanks!

-- Si Dunn

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