To identify the source of poetry is to identify the source of the universe poetry is word and the word was with God.

I've always loved poetry; as a child I remember my Mom and her Mom reciting poems. Grandma could recite The Village Blacksmith word for word, from memory. They both had a whole repertoire of poems that they knew by heart. By heart, that expression says it all, poetry is about the heart it is emotion set into word. Can I describe the feeling of being wrapped in the rhythm of those words? Is it possible to describe flowing in and out of the verses, rising up on the highs and sinking deep into the lows, floating along with the words until I drifted into sleep? Their beautiful voices set to an unheard rhythm, paced by the beating of our hearts.

If you truly want to identify the source and target of poetic inspiration you must be willing to allow your heart to be exposed. Not just superficially but intensely exposed, laid bare in a way that will sting, and even embarrass. The poet has no secrets. Better to be the reader rather than the writer of poetry. Poets are born, it is not a choice it is a compulsion.

Learn more about this author, Shari Deaven.
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