Are You a Poet?

Are You a Poet?

“Poetry is an echo
asking a shadow to dance.”
~ Carl Sandburg

Are you a poet? Have you ever been one? I have. University and residence life and falling in and out of love made a poet out of me once. Did anything in life do that to you?

Writing poetry helped me to process the emotions I was dealing with while living away from home for the first time. It was a way for me to find release and achieve closure; to capture the beautiful and poignant moments and press them between the pages of my Life scrapbook for all time.

I can’t say how good (or bad) a poet I was. I’ve written a few poems that weren’t awful and they’re all tucked away in a notebook or two – somewhere – but one resides in my memory so it’s the one I’ll share. It was inspired by a hauntingly beautiful island I spied on a countryside drive.

The Island

It lay untouched; untouchable.
It seemed so shy, so glad.
Yet melancholy colored it
and paradise
was sad.

Did anybody go there?
Where did it all come from?
Did God create or did man build
this Island in the sun?

You could but look, admire it
and wish that you could stay,
at least to touch it’s bowing leaves
before you went away.

Are you a poet? I know Claudia has been doing Haikus on her blog lately! What fun to be a poet again! What piece of poetry have you composed? Share!

photo credit: Craig O Neal

Scroll down to share your thoughts.
But first, please share! Thanks!

About The Author


I have always loved writing and community building. I’ve written a book about healing and happiness, The Happy Place, as well as a Community Building book, Sounding the Drum: Community Building in the Digital Age,both available at any Amazon store. I’ve been through life changes that I thought were the end of my world, but I’m still here. You never know what will happen next. Isn’t that what makes life interesting?