Where Poems Come From

WHERE POEMS COME FROM When you write you ‘give’ yourself away And people then sometimes say - From where does your inspiration arise? From the world around you surprise, surprise! Even the roots of an imagined scene Grow from where you’ve really been. If you are a sea-lubber : You write stories of fish and blubber. In deserts: sand, camels and scarabs, Or even groups of Arabs. You have a small herd of dogs or hens? You write about those with your pens. But some are pretenders Not really ‘givers’ but lenders. Poems by writers masked Answer questions nobody asked. Honesty please, or stay your pen, And never pick it up again. Ragged jeans are rich-guy style: that’s what it means; But poor folk don’t choose: they just wear ragged jeans.