#6: How to write a poem

Live.

Live fully with your eyes smiling a welcome 

To every moment, every person

That nudges you out of your comfort zone 

Leaving you feeling exposed to the strange world outside.

And in that nakedness, choose words that will envelop you tight 

Like that quilt you hug close on a cold winter night. 

Pause.

Pause for just one moment or maybe a million

In between all the conversations, the chatter 

The running, the caring, the goofing, 
the ticking off items from the endless to-do-lists. 

And in that pause, 

unscramble those lines in your mind, 

Until some meaning you begin to find. 

Listen. 

Listen to the beating of your heart

When it feels joy, or love or anticipation.

And specially when it feels fear,

That makes you want to crawl into a tiny, tiny cave 

And as the heartbeat fills the silence of the cave

Tap out a rhythm that can give voice to your heart

To march out of the darkness & make a fresh start. 

Tune in. 

Tune into the voice that is only yours,

Into the life that only you have lived ,

Into those bundled up emotions that you hold in your hands

That look so horribly messed up, 

But to your eyes, make complete sense

And in that tuning in, 

Find the lines that hesitatingly connect the dots
between the dreams and the despairing thoughts. 

In that living.

Listening 

Pausing 

Tuning in,

Write that poem that's seeking you. 

Write like you don't really care.

Write like it means everything to you. 

Write like its the first time you are speaking to the world.

Write like its the last thing you'll ever say.

And in your writing, when the poem starts to flow, 

Hold it close as long as you want, 

Knowing that soon it'll be time to let go.