The First Word of a Poem

Memories built from experience alone are not enough.
It takes patience to wait for those memories to come alive again.
They must become part of your bloodstream,
shape your gaze and gestures,
and dissolve into something so nameless
that it’s no longer separate from who you are.
Only then, and only rarely,
does the first word of a poem
rise to the surface.
When that first word appears,
the poem is already halfway complete.
Waiting for memories to transform into poetry
is like watching inspiration and recollection dance together.
And the joy of that first word—
that thrill is why we willingly walk
the hard road of experience again.