Compared to other poets, I write at a snail’s pace. I was surprised when, talking with two fellow artists only hours apart, both told me they are impressed with how productive I am. The first is impressed with the number of poems I submit to publishers and how frequently I submit. The other feels I create a public “smoke and mirrors” illusion of productivity, but is impressed with how frequently my books get published. I’ve never compared my productivity to that of other writers, but this was a challenge. I know many poets who publish more than I do, and more frequently.

One poet announces new publications of his poems in literary journals around the world. Often he will post new successes several times a day. This year alone, he expects to have written more than two thousand poems. Another poet’s books of surreal poetry and prose are published by small presses across Canada. Many poets are writing a thousand or more poems a year, and getting them published. Poetry is flowing from poets as though each is a cornucopia of words and images.

How could my productivity match what these poets are accomplishing, I wondered. Using simple math, I set out to find the truth behind my alleged smoke and mirrors. I divided the total number of poems I’ve ever written by the number of years that have passed since writing the first poem. The result? On average I write fewer than ten poems a year. To be exact, I have written 9.267857 poems per year. Fewer than seven of these, only 6.571428, per year have been published in literary journals, magazines, newspapers, anthologies, and books. If you consider that some have been published two or more times over the years, the number increases only slightly.

Yep. A snail’s pace poet, that’s me. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Perhaps productivity, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder.