It is easier to drift with the current, embracing conspiracy theories as tantalising alternatives to truth. Myths and folklore, once the imaginative scaffolding of human heritage, now risk being mistaken for reality. Have we grown too complacent to think for ourselves—not only in creativity, penning poetry that resonates, but in our innate curiosity?
Are poets becoming lazy—or merely indifferent—when confronted with invented forms and new challenges? Or have they surrendered the edge that once defined them, abandoning curiosity: the well-spring of creativity?
Instead of merely turning over a new leaf, poets should look beneath it—seeking the life forsaken in favour of instant gratification, those answers served too readily on a platter.
It is not merely a case of abdicating authority to a machine—whether AI-generated work, automated checkers, or generic news feeds. In doing so, you allow predetermined biases to shape your thinking. Curiosity is the safeguard: the very act of investigation buffers the flow of disinformation and keeps false claims at bay.
Many contests are now schooled on AI-generated prompts. Why should poets labour over them when the landscape is crowded with AI-poetry—often more polished than human attempts? Sponsors will favour what they favour, and free will allows poets to choose which prompts truly appeal. Popularity may sway participation, yet the decisive factor remains the originality of the theme: only a contest that stirs curiosity will awaken poets to write.
CONCLUSION
Curiosity is not a luxury but a discipline: the refusal to accept answers served too easily. It is the leaf turned and the life beneath it, the fountain that keeps creativity flowing. Without it, poetry—and thought itself—risks becoming a hollow echo. With it, we reclaim the authority to question, to imagine, and to resist the drift into indifference.
In choosing curiosity, we do more than preserve our own creativity—we keep alive the shared heritage of questioning that makes us human, binding poets and readers in the common pursuit of wonder.
Image AI-generated by DALL-E 3