Masterpieces Rapid Thoughtless Wrote Themselves Poem by Terence George Craddock

I guess I should explain this poem, it is not about writing with or without drafts, it is about the magic lines that write themselves like 'Xanadu - Kubla Khan' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which he subtitled Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment. As many scolars will know, Coleridge wrote the poem directly from an opium dream and could never finish the poem from just past the point when he was awoken by a knock at the door. As some seasoned poets will know and probably all poets experience and have experienced, some lines write themselves, the start, then the problem is to try to finish the poem. Somestimes or often such poems are not finished or finished with a fall off in intensity and ability. Some poems however write themselves from start to finish like automatic writing, with little or no effort and thought. Masterpieces are rare, very rare, a perfect timeless classic poem, destined to be loved for generations and never out of fashion. Easier to achieve with shorter poems, longer poems usually require more effort time and patience. Before the invention of computers, us old school poets usually hand wrote drafts, sometimes multiple drafts; then we typed out poems we kept, I guess may of us never bothered to type out or keep many of our poems. I still have several folders with typed out poems, several were stolen from the old Albion Hotel in Westport when I was moving out, now called the Art Hotel; more for transient guests, the odd painter sculpter but not poets; internet out at midnight does not suit poets who write and post in the night. So to draft or not to draft? Whatever works, whatever suits at the time; the same with themes plots styles; whatever works for each individual poet. Poets like me do not like rules or tasks set; often we wake and do not finish poem from the previous day, some poems are completed within a few days, weeks or months later or never. If we write to enjoy then the new is usually more appealing. So the theme of the above poem is writing, different strokes for different folks, and as many poets on this site will know who have studied literature, what critics write and how poets write is not necessarily the same thing; sometimes it is very dissimilar, the primary source is the poet rarely consulted; lazy research or access to diaries, letters, poets and authour primary material is a gold mine, a golden rule is ask the source. And what is a masterpiece, depends on opinions and differing criteria, but maybe less than one in a thousand poems or canvases; Michelangelo minds are rare in any profession.