jcfrancis

OK, so here's the thing about me and poetry:
when I was 8 years old, my older sister got an electric typewriter. I was fascinated by it and was dying to use it. (I mean, it was an electric typewriter! How cool was that?!)
I begged her to use it, but she explained to me that it was not a toy, but an adult device which she needed to complete papers for her schoolwork. However, being the benevolent elder sibling she was, she permitted me to use it, provided I had something to type. And not just silly "blah blah blah", but something meaningful.
My 8 year old mind determined, "what is there that is fast and easy to write that could be deemed important? A poem!"
Thus I set out to write my first poem for the sole purpose of being able to type it up on this fancy electric typewriter.
My sister reviewed my first literary work (God knows what it could have been about...) and approved.
Thus, began my interest in poetry.
My motivation for poetry has of course progressed from those early days. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that I have no real motivation for writing the vast majority of my poems. I do not write poetry for any other reason than I feel the need to do it. I feel compelled to do it on a daily basis. When my mind is not otherwise occupied, when I am walking, riding my bike, falling asleep, my mind automatically shifts to creative writing mode. I look for poetry in every passing scene, every passing thought. It is automatic as breathing to me. It is one of those things I can't not do. (There is this tiny part of me that imagines being cast into solitary confinement for some extended period of time and upon hearing the of the door being locked behind me, thinking, "Ah, all the poetry I can sit and write now without all those distractions!"
I've belonged to poetry groups in the past (15 years ago), but have shared almost none of it since then. I've never been a part of an online poetry group, so this is all new for me.
I hope to develop a sense of community, virtual though it may be, through writer'scafe.
And we're off...