Since I had no history
of Poetry reading or writing,
at first,
it was a matter of the pure joy
of rhyming, and the rush of writing,
that thrilled me.
Many of my first works
are simplified and breezy.

Then summer came, and with it,
children home constantly,
and the feeling of being "trapped"
in my life of cooking, cleaning and caring for kids,
several months of depressive days,
and mind-wondering freedom of late nights,
created painful and chaotic works.
At times, drinking brought the craziness
of my Time into such unclear focus,
I became consumed with
learning about everybody's life
but my own.

Kid's going back to school
brought more time to think and ponder;
I found poetry in everything I saw. There were
so many thoughts and ideas,
if I didn't write a perceived title down, somewhere,
I lost the thoughts behind the piece.
Titles hold so much importance
and meaning,
they signify
the soul of the poem.

So, now, I started getting
some practice and semi-knowledge
of how I liked to write under my belt,
I was developing a "style",
more thinking came to play a part
in my writing...inspiration
came in many ways; the sound
of crows in the morning, seeing
two different-patterned cats, one dead,
one walking in the road as I
drove to the store twice in one day,
the illnesses of cyber-friends
and their pains and joys,
my fish tank of hopeless fish, holidays...
I wanted to show these things
in a different and unique way, I wanted
people to “see”
through my mind…

I have a couple "types" of poems
that seem to come out.
The first is the "passion-poem",
usually set off by people and their actions,
one written at two o’clock in the morning,
with tears streaming down my face,
as I was watching Oprah's show
on what some of the released
death-row inmate's, had done
to these peoples loved ones…

Several force me out of bed,
to pound away in the beauty of night.
I once had a dream
of such perfect knowledge,
it was mentally agonizing
to wake up,
I wrote its feelings down,
as, once again, I wept…

Other pieces come out
more casually written, they
usually end up rhyming in some way.
And there are those that
are actually of such importance to me,
I "research" the words in the title,
writing down definitions and synonyms,
notes and thoughts,
and then I create the work
to go with the title...

So, in this last year
of creating my Poetic Self,
I’ve found,
anything I see or hear can
inspire me to write,
in an immediate, passionate fashion,
or a more leisurely manner,
when the thoughts come together,
in the most powerful, shivery feeling
of creating art
that I have ever experienced.

I have always been in love
with words,
now,
they are the tools
of my Trade.

I am a Poet.

Erin Moen
3/21/03
Copyright 2003 ©



My girls not only have spring break this week, they have been playing their new Nancy Drew computer game, seriously curtailing my 'puter time of reading and replying. I have been enjoying the game myself, having read all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books in my youth! I hope to be back in full swing next week.

:)