When All Else Fails, write a poem

Mark Twain said, “When all else fails, write what your heart tells you. You can’t depend on your eyes, when your imagination is out of focus.” 

Now he didn’t necessarily say “write a poem,” but this has been my prescription for a long long time. And I have found that my heart has never lied, although many times my imagination did. 

When it comes to writing, I have discovered that the heart flows out, undisguised, unfiltered, unadulterated. I can be in a state of muddled confusion, grasping for anything concrete that I know…and my heart will always come through. Afterwards, I find myself thinking “well the answer was there all along!” 

Sometimes it is denial. Other times it the swirl of other’s opinions. Or maybe you simply can not think straight. My advice is, try your heart. 

You don’t have to be good to write. Nor do you need to share it with the world. Maybe it is just your own secret garden. But I am beginning to think that poetry is a therapy you should try; it works wonders on the nervous system and can be incredibly enlightening! 

Below is a piece I wrote some time ago.