Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?
Yes and no. My “beginning” (mid-1990s) fizzled out after a few years… for a variety of reasons, one of which is probably that writing is really, really hard work. And I just didn’t put in the time and effort back then. If I didn’t feel moved, I wouldn’t write. And—embarrassing as it is to say—I really didn’t read much poetry back then (other than what was taught in university classes). Now, I deliberately start the day by reading poetry—sometimes I get inspired to write, sometimes I don’t. I think it’s cumulative: the more poetry you read, the more likely poem ideas will pop up.
On the other hand, sometimes something does whack me in the noggin out of the blue; you can’t ignore that (even if you’re on the toilet, though that can be slightly awkward).
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