WHY I WRITE

      Though you might think it works the other way,
      I write to find out what I have to say.
      How do I know until at last I see
      What in the process has occurred to me?

      Some hint or notion may have nudged my pen,
      But something unexpected happens then
      As way leads on to way and I’m surprised
      Discovering topics I’d not realized.

      One word or phrase suggests another one
      Taking me far from where I had begun,
      And then I wonder where it all may tend
      Until—voilà—I see I’ve reached the end

      Where I find out I know more than I knew
      And I’m as much surprised, or more, than you.

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