Dear friends, you’ve asked me
how it was I came to poetry.
Let me seek to give an answer.

I was early held in thrall by words
and sought to find
a weapon of expression.

I explored a vast variety
of differing forms including
prose and drama and ballads.

I did not come so easily to poetry.
Poetry came to me.
It sought me out and overflowed.

And did it share the secret I'd explored?
Could I answer that, dear friends,
it would not be poetry.