How does a poem begin?
I was recently reading Songwriters on Songwriting in which hundreds of songwriters speak to their process. I was struck by some of what Neil Young had to say in that he detailed how the difference between him and other people is that no matter the situation, not mater the time or place or conversation, when he feels the urge to create, the split second of glory and heat, he stops and leans in. This resonated with me as I can’t say where the poems come from but I to try to lean in whenever a line seems to materialize out of nowhere. I’ll stop mid conversation, pull over a car, even find a pen and write on my own arm if paper is not available and let the first line take me where the rest of the poem needs to go. It is rare for me to have an idea of what I am trying to do, I simply stat with the line or turn of phrase which comes to me and let the rest flow through.
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