Searching for Something: On how I write poetry

At first, I felt myself getting defensive in response to this, but after reading on, I have to admit I relate for the most part. I think we "poet" and "artist" types, for the most part, get caught up in the emotion, which can act as an excellent springboard but does not alone make for substantial, quality work.

I've done my share of "writing from the heart" and "writing in the moment", but when I later took a step back and looked at it objectively, I've found that I rarely get it right the first time. So there's a lot of thought and "poengineering" that go on behind the scenes to build a finished piece that I'm willing to put my name on.

This is not to say I won't trust my instincts and write something a certain way because it "feels" right: there's a huge difference between emotion and sensing, and I'll trust my senses before my emotions any day.