To Be a Poet, Oft Strong Commands Come At Night

To Be A Poet, Oft Strong Commands Come At Night

Oh, gawd- comes raging middle of the night
This horrid current, rise up and now write
An electric jolt, firing through me bones
Of new fortress looming, huge granite stones
And that tingle surging from old waking soul
As pagan's carving of a totem pole
Words spilling out from a resistant heart
Pen and paper screaming, hurry let's start!

Stumbling amidst and across dim-lit room
Word flowing from life or else dreaded doom
Splash, splash as ink and paper newly wed
Old verses, that a spirited mind said
Some few flavored with Shakespearean awe
Other's cuttings from old lumberjack's saw!

And I, vessel to set these ravings down
Of love, a princess in her golden gown
Dancing slowing across a ballroom floor
One never knows what else comes through that door!

Robert J. Lindley, Nov. 2nd 1978
Rhyme, 
( When Poetry  Forces A Poet To Wake Up  And Write )
Copyright © | Year Posted 2022

Poem

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Kiser Avatar
March 3, 2022 at 3:14 PM
That is the way our muse works, one minute you're asleep or relaxing and the next one, it's flowing. Keep that paper and pencil handy. Nicely done.
Baker Avatar
March 1, 2022 at 10:10 PM
Thanks for letting some of us know we're not alone in our somewhat weird behavior at times. Enjoyed your poem from the past. Bill
Dietrich Avatar
February 13, 2022 at 9:25 PM
wow, a really old one, but your classy style can be seen even way back when, robert!!
Rodrigues Avatar
January 30, 2022 at 6:22 PM
That poetry door wide open to a range of images and thoughts! The muse shows up at inconvenient times and thus we must get up or try to remember which we are not apt to do. ~ Kim
Labyrinth Avatar
January 30, 2022 at 2:24 PM
lol...love it Lindley! I have been under the impression ...of more than lately....I've gone somewhat insane with it all - I am now having dreams where the story lines and words are on repeat play like a record glitching and I wake up enable to go back to sleep, because I fear if I do I will lose what was so fantastically constructed in my sleep/dreams. I get this one entirely. And written in 1978!! a testament to the strength through time for love of your written words. Leanne. Xx
Labyrinth Avatar
January 30, 2022 at 2:26 PM
Have added to my favourites.
Kendrick Avatar
January 30, 2022 at 8:31 AM
Enjoyed reading your renderings about the poet's desire to write that sometimes overpowers. Creative work that you have penned. Sara
Goldsmith Avatar
January 24, 2022 at 1:34 PM
Artist of all kinds work when it hits them. If not, then they will lose it. I had a book come to me in the middle of the night. Cover and all. Sleep in the daytime. Have a blessed day/week writing away..............
Lindley Avatar
January 24, 2022 at 5:38 PM
Thank you, my friend. Yes, as you say such is the case with many other artists in many other art forms. I guess sleep loss is the price paid when ones' muse decides to gift verses to start a new creation. God bless.
Jones Avatar
January 24, 2022 at 2:54 AM
Ah I understand this well penned poem. Music was my muse with melody and word raining down my wake till I set it to paper and played it. I like this and think it should be poem of the day.
Lindley Avatar
January 24, 2022 at 5:36 PM
Thank you, my friend. I have myself always wished I had the gift of being able to excel in writing lyrics. But alas! This old poet must stick to the path that has been given me. God bless.
Lindley Avatar
January 23, 2022 at 12:44 PM
Five decades have flown by and that accursed middle of the night waking with a forced urge to get up and write the words flowing from within has not let up. Maddening at times when sleep is so desperately needed, yet sometimes it gifts us a gem. Truth, I have found nothing that can stop it.
Jones Avatar
January 24, 2022 at 2:51 AM
Tis your calling to write so that others may be enlightened, which for your sleep is a blessed curse.
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