Can this really be true of the poet?

Question

This poem is about those whose inspiration to write poetry has left them. Their minds go blank for a while. It is not until something; they know not what, inspires them to write again. It is as if they have just come out of hibernation. They are hungry, yet their minds are once again filled with new ideas.

Hibernation

It is time; the long sleep is over,

and thoughts must awake and

arise from the shingled bed of

their long dormant minds.

Like the hushed surge of an

incoming tide, refreshed by

recent rains and warmed by

the instinctive motivation to

write again.

Not for the praise of man nor

of the God’s, but to take up the

pen and write, to re live; no, to

create once again poems whose

beauty are in words set out in

tuneful order.

Or to meander wherever their

course takes them. To join with

others, permeating with the torrent

of surging intense power of the

unwritten.

As the uncontainable billows of

eloquent minds; of all who venture

forth once again from a self induced

hibernation of a non-existent winter.

Answer 1

First, let me say that I really like this poem.  I really felt the cold and storm imagery, and I think you do a great job of describing a feeling that we all get at one time or another.  Keep writing poetry.

Your word choice is just....delicious, but there are a few minor grammatical foibles you should be aware of.

"Long dormant" sold be hyphenated (i.e. "long-dormant").  Also, "God's" doesn't need the apostrophe; also, "re live" can be "relive" or "re-live," but it seems like the poem might benefit from a short phrase like "to live again" or "to live once more," since the word "re-live" generally refers to imagining that an experience is happening after it has happened once, not actual rebirth.  In addition, in the final stanza, "self induced" should be hyphenated.

With all that said, I really do like the poem.  I hope to see many more insightful pieces from you.

Answer 2

Your inspiration has not left you.  It is an interesting poem.  You use strong imagery with powerful words. Keep writing.

T.

Answer 3

Finally, a poem that is self-reflective!  But I think that you can do more here.  Your scope is too limited given the vastness of your language.  Consider commenting not only on renewed poesies, but on creation in general, on not reliving but actively living.  This poem sounds more like an awakening into a world of thought and image, not exclusively poetic thought.  As a reader, I can't necessarily reverberate with the concerns of the writer-- I am not concerned with your end of the bargain, only on mine, which is to connect your images and internalize your poetry.  The Hermeneutic Circle is critical to writer and reader-- poetry is not the product of one bear out of hibernation but the interplay between two.

As for your question, I think the answer is yes and no.  A poet can hibernate (which is an odd choice of words-- hibernation is inevitable and beneficial for its practitioners), and I imagine most do.  The world must be ingested and digested before it is transformed into something more; the latter half of this process is time-consuming in many cases.  The unwritten, as you well observe, always awakens the in-tune poet.

Answer 4

words....

put together becomes a sword

not to defeat but to soar

beyond the heavens could reach...

a pen is a poet's life

and poetry...

...is a poet's heart ....