Why Do I Love Writing Poetry? Poem by Denis Martindale

Could it be faith, the challenge set, the quest to prove my worth,
The venture faced without regret, a poem to give birth?
The fashioning of eloquence, the forming of each phrase,
The passion for its elegance, anointing it with grace?

The imitation of the Lord, Who said, Let there be light!
The fascination, overawed by truths I choose to write?
Could it be for the editing, the angst that it portrays,
Or sudden joys it tends to bring, thus lightening my days?

My destiny, my favoured fate, my birthright from the start,
God's gift that I might celebrate, my heart transformed by art?
Or am I driven to express the twists and turns of life,
The holiness and happiness, the sorrow and the strife?

Or seeing beauty in a rose that buds as though for me,
And gently sways as if to pose, just for my poetry?
Or merely penned to please a girl, a sweetheart I would love,
As if to set her heart a-whirl, should my verse prove enough?

Is writing now my legacy, my gift to all Mankind,
And not just for posterity, as thoughts I leave behind?
Perhaps one day, when I am gone, God helps me understand,
The reasons I wrote on and on were blessings that He planned.


Denis Martindale. March 2022.


My poems use the 8-6-8-6 syllables style of hymns
such as God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and I sing
my verses to that hymn to test how they sound.