I am a poet—which is to say, a deliberate simpleton.
A poet is the opposite of a seer. An unseer, if you like. A false prophet.
The central purpose of poetry isn’t to persuade, but to enchant. A poem’s pronouncements should be taken as seriously as the pronouncements of the wren in your garden.
Beware of poems about ‘ah ha!’ moments. The challenge is to produce such a moment for the reader or listener, not merely to describe one. The good news is that ordinary language is brimful of such moments for those who really learn how to listen. It’s a kind of magic, how rhythm and word-music alone can coax new growth from the language’s root metaphors.
Through song, through saying, through story and play, the ageless myth passes from mouth to mouth.