How do your poems develop?
Most of them start with inspiration I get from pictures. It’s always amazing to me the detail an artist will put into every line and every shadow, and after admiring their work, my words will start to form. Sometimes not even a full line but just a couple words as my mind starts going.
I also get a lot of inspiration from things that I have gone through in life and stories that I’ve read. I can go weeks without writing a single poem and then in one day - BAM - I have the beginnings of four new ones!
Do you do many re-writes or does the composition flow as you write them?
I would like to say that my poems just flow right through my hand, into the ink of my pen, and onto the paper - but it usually takes me a little more rewriting and lip biting than that. I can normally get the first couple of stanzas out right away.
Finding the right ending for a poem though, is usually the toughest for me. I like my poems to be a complete thought or a short story, so the ending is everything. Then, even when I have an ending that I like, I still go through and edit (polish) it - until I feel it’s ready.