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And So You Write Poetry

Poetry is the one place
where people can speak
their original human mind.
-  Allen Ginsberg.
        ..........................

You can get lost sometimes
in the mind's obsessions,
its need for order, to gather in
what spills out
from the ruptured sides of certainty,
the comfortable surrounds 
of routine -
and so you write poetry.

Then there are those moments 
when all descends into panic,
when you lose control 
and the world spirals inward,
winding itself up into an ever
tightening catastrophe -
and so you write poetry.

And when something
in this world or beyond 
wants to speak and finds
in you an ear in which 
to whisper and you 
are gifted a tiny spark
of the sublime -
you write poetry.

And even when the cogs
and levers of your life click
into place and run like clockwork,
and yet leave a fear 
that the ticking sound
you hear is the countdown 
to a final detonation - 
you write poetry.

Copyright © Paul Willason | Year Posted 2025

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John Lawless Date: 7/21/2025 7:20:00 AM another confirmation of my poetic mantra "DON'T FIGHT IT...WRITE IT". An ode to the wit, wisdom and whimsy of poets and poetry..... Login to Reply Paul Willason Date: 7/21/2025 11:54:00 PM I like your mantra John...might borrow it. Thanks for giving the poem your time...valued. Take care...

Sara Etgen-Baker Date: 7/20/2025 4:30:00 PM magnificent and well said. Sometimes I do not know from whence poetry comes. You've hit upon it beautifully. Such poetic skill you have Login to Reply Paul Willason Date: 7/21/2025 12:19:00 AM Appreciate your comments Sara. Indeed, poetry seems to arise from unlikely places at times....it has its own time and even, on occasions, a seperate will. We are in a way its willing servants.

David Kavanagh Date: 7/20/2025 10:51:00 AM Couldn’t have said it better Paul! From the tiny imperceptible nuances of life, to the very foundations of creation is where our poetry comes from, a tiny spark of the sublime can indeed gift us any amount of stanzas, from a monoku to a crown of sonnets, love the thought processes behind this exceptional piece, cheers David Login to Reply Paul Willason Date: 7/21/2025 12:13:00 AM Thankyou David...the mysterious process of making seems, in many ways, illusive. Unfortunately I can never just sit down and will a poem into existence...I need to listen, clear the static, then, if I'm lucky, a line or two will surface, then more and off I go almost in a trance. Lovely feeling. Cheers my friend.