How does a poem begin?
So many ways. A line might wake me at night. I might be walking. or driving. I might overhear a half-sentence on a bus. It might start from a prompt or creative workshop. Or when looking at art. Or in the supermarket. Most often it's a thought that arises while I'm reading something else, usually poetry. I used to write 'morning pages' (freewriting without stopping for 20minutes) and a line there would set me off. Often I have no idea where the poem is going at first, and I rarely know what it's fundamentally about until quite some time into the editing process. For me, it's very much about freeing up the unconscious. The poem generally knows more than I do, so I try to let it be what it wants to be. A bit like bringing up children. Give it a loose enough rein, yet check it's not gone wild.
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