There Are Times When Only By Hearing The Poems Of Others Poem by Shalom Freedman

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN ONLY BY HEARING THE POEMS OF OTHERS

There are times when only by hearing the poems of others,
Can one begin to write one’s own-
One needs the rhythm of poetry
And once one has it
One can perhaps begin.

This morning I have not listened to anyone else-
And I write these lines
Into the bare space of the page
With a tremor of doubt
At whether they are ‘poetry’.

I hear myself as a poem
But what others hear
May be something else entirely-