Where does a poem come from?

Where does a poem come from?

What is this thing that comes to me
and tells me what to write
sometimes in the early morning
or in the middle of the night

It feeds me an idea
for an angle or a line
and then it flows right through me
as if its power were really mine

Sometimes it give's me noble thoughts
full of romance, love and trust.
Other times more physical
desire, sex and lust.

Yet again there are the angry ones
vile, bitterness and hatred.
Not always things I feel myself
so no hunger has been sated.

And other times its quiet
like the inspiration's left
and maybe for a day or two
of ideas I am bereft.

So what is this muse or genius
that creates and shapes these words you see
You would think that if it wrote this
it would at least tell me?

Reviews

[Leigh]

I can really relate to this, for me you have summarised these feelings well and I can only conclude it is part of my expressive nature and just have to get things out in the open.

[Andrew Hawkins]

Thanks leigh, Elizabeth Gilbert, the woman that wrote Eat, Pray, Love once gave a TED speech about how in ancient Rome people were considered to have been "visited by genius" rather than modern times where we consider people themselves to actually "be" the genius. To me it makes perfect sense and explains why we have flashes of inspiration rather than being able to do this thing 24x7x365.