Alan Ireland Poet Blank verse

Writing a Poem

A single stroke 
dispatches emptiness, 
in one ambitious line 
gives backbone to 
my limp attention. 
 
Rigid fingers tighten 
on the brush. 
The bristles slash again 
and incorruptible reality 
is neatly tailored 
to my artifice. 
 
Leaning on my arm, 
I glance behind me 
at the letters 
inching down the page. 
There's no return, 
no second chance. 
 
The brush no longer 
mediates between 
intention and accomplishment. 
It races on ahead of me, 
guided by the incidental 
pattern of its progress. 
 
Independent of endeavor, 
indifferent to what I am 
or what I hoped to be, 
it brushes my design aside 
and draws its own conclusions.


First version published in Poet, India

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Darlene De Beaulieu October 22, 2017 at 5:11 PM That is a different version of writing a poem. I like it Alan. Welcome to poetry Soup. Haved a nice evening my friend.

Patricia Cresswell August 13, 2017 at 9:33 AM Excellent! The process is so different to the end product. Sometimes I wonder where the words come from.

Indiana Shaw August 6, 2017 at 11:51 AM The confusion here I think is - Is it your own poem ? - or one written by someone else - either way you have chosen to share with us all - whatever it is a lovely idyllic poem of greater understanding with the information given - As I was lost between an artist painting and a "Poet" writing - I hope it is your own poem because once understood it is a "Master" piece in its own right - Thank you for the share - Indiana x x x Alan Ireland August 6, 2017 at 7:58 PM Thank you for your kind comment. Yes, the poem is my work. When you say, "I was lost between an artist painting and a 'poet' writing," you hit the nail on the head. Japanese or Chinese calligraphy, which is written from the top of the page to the bottom, is both art and literature. The same is true of Arabic calligraphy, in which the letters can be used to construct the image of a bird or a flower.

Alan Ireland April 5, 2017 at 10:11 PM This poem was written in Japan (where poems are traditionally written with a brush). It was first published in Poet (India), and revised in 2017.