DISCOVERING A POEM

                    A poem in rhyme and meter finds its way
                    Not led by something that it has to say
                    But rather by the odd exigency
                    That rhyme and meter makes necessity—
                    Which is to say: you cannot have in mind
                    A certain goal toward which your poem’s inclined;
                    Instead, you will discover as you write,
                    And all the more to your surprised delight,
                    A course you’d never find out by intent,
                    But rather seems that it is heaven sent
                    As if you were a vessel of a Muse
                    Who whispered as you wrote enticing clues
                    Then leaves you in the end with something new
                    You never had a notion you might do.

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