The Cinquainians Forum The Perfect Poem

Do we have to be in a particular state of mind to write a poem? No. But you can be stopped by a thought or feeling at any time during your waking hours and urged to write. When you're done writing you may not fully understand what you've written. It may sound like a nonsense poem.

If this has happened to you before, it's your evidence that poems are when the gods speak through humans. Often than not, a poet will write a poem and had to read his or her own poem several times to fully understand what has been written.

Several days or weeks after a poem has been written and published, a poet may go back and change or remove words or sentences, or even write a new version of the poem. Here again is your evidence that poems are when gods speak through humans.

We can express only poorly what the gods have given us. With perseverance and hard-work though, we are sometimes rewarded with a perfect poem; and in that moment, we become as gods.

To The Muse
Daughter of Mnemosyne and Zeus,
Speak through my mind and hands.
If you find my words not strong enough
To express how you feel;
Grant me another day.