I read this poem called "for the young who want to" by marge piercy?

Question

Can someone help me under stand it?

it's really confusing!

read it here:

http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1610.html

Answer 1

it is a very straight forward poem , with no flight of imagination , no lyricism, or no great emotions at play. it is like a poem of Alexander Pope or Dryden. if we put more punctuations I think, you will easily understand the poem :

Marge Piercy (1936-)

For the young who want to

              1Talent is what they say

              2you have, after the novel

              3is published, and favorably

              4reviewed. Beforehand what

              5you have is a tedious

              6delusion, a hobby like knitting.

              7Work is what you have done

              8after the play is produced,

              9and the audience claps.

            10Before that friends, keep asking,

            11when you are planning to go

            12out, and get a job.

            13Genius is what they know you

            14had, after the third volume

            15of remarkable poems. Earlier

            16they accuse you of withdrawing,

            17ask why you don't have a baby,

            18call you a bum.

            19The reason people want M.F.A.'s,

            20take workshops with fancy names,

            21when all you can really

            22learn, is a few techniques,

            23typing instructions and some-

            24body else's mannerisms.

            25is that every artist lacks

            26a license, to hang on the wall

            27like your optician, your vet

            28proving you may be a clumsy s****t,

            29whose fillings fall into the stew,

            30but you're certified a dentist.

            31The real writer is one

            32who really writes. Talent

            33is an invention like phlogiston

            34after the fact of fire.

            35Work is its own cure. You have to

            36like it better than being loved.

here the last stanza is what you have got truly to understand. The last sentence is the key : ' You have to like it better than being loved.'

Read two three times carefully , I  am sure the meaning will emerge. I have put many extra commas, so that you will be able to understand the poem better.