Amnesty Inspirational (Poetry)

Collective term: A preponderance of poets

Why not gardening or knitting?
What makes us sew with ponderous threads of words?
We could be outdoors — riding, playing
tennis, indulging in safe apple-picking chores...

Why wrestle with some Hydra-headed ghoul
who whispers her old longings — fills the skull
with borrowed fancies, enigmatic dreams
that worry at the silence, grab each lull

and make demands? Who instructs the ink to crawl —
a servant to the paper’s appetite
for gossip — all the secrets of the heart
pouring darkly, blinking in the light?

Why not ignore that voice?
What good comes of such scribble? After all
it’s all been said so many times before
and often better. But still we heed the call —

the inner bell that summons, ringing through the brain
despite distractions — dull reality
fading as a hand gropes for a pen —
a few brave lines and one more truth is freed.