How Did You Write A Nice Poem? Poem by Denis Martindale

I read my poem as I wrote, correcting now and then,
Of each new phrase I thus took note, again, again, again.
I pondered more than once, it's true, on phrases I composed,
I rearranged a line or two, for what I liked the most.
Investing time has proved the key, and that's no secret, friends,
It's just hard graft, no mystery, before each poem ends.
Who knows what blessings may ensue? Could poems turn to songs?
Could I grant insight just for you, as if to right your wrongs?
Or make you smile, or laugh, or cry, or share a sense of awe?
I only know, I've got to try, that's what a poem's for.


Denis Martindale, the 12th of March 2023.