i could write

a lot of poems about you,

i said.
don't know that anyone really understands what that means. but when i get someone in my blood, in my veins, in my mind, i have to exorcise them through poetry.

i've come to understand it is just who i am. what i do. i am sure it can be disconcerting to newcomers. who writes poems anymore? who writes love poems? what does any of it matter?

it doesn't really but that is not why one writes poems, for the great weight they will bear. one writes poems because one must. it is all i say to explain it. there is no monetary value, but poetry is the only thing i value. i will continue to do what i do because it is who i am.

and when my mind lights up with the face or name or thought of someone, i will write it down.

a friend said to me,

you must not write anymore poems and share them with anyone.

she meant well, was trying to protect me. but i think it would do me more harm to stop the flow than to deal with the repercussions of my outpouring.

poetry is dangerous. remember that.

i have much still in me. this pleases me to know. that the well has not run dry, not been tapped out by so much talk of craft.

i neglected to mention the craft,

she said.

no worries,

i reassured her,

i don't put any stock in it.

craft is not why i write or even how i write. which reminds me of a lecture i'm listening to which said,

craft is an ad hoc approach to something written, rather than a way to approach writing.

i so agree.