The Beginning of Poetry

A poet will start writing when an urge to do so emerges. It might not be planned. They might not have an audience in mind. What the poet will write about depends on their perception and feelings. It depends on how they see the world. Should a topic be off limits? Because someone else has written about it before? The sun and the moon, the trees and flowers, children and dogs? No? We have a final answer now? A canon? What might remain for new voices I wonder: Where can I check if my topic is exhausted? No, I want to hear more about exactly this: How you see the world. How it reveals itself to you. What questions you have and if you think differently about age-old topics. I might learn something new. I might discover again what I thought I knew, but maybe don’t. I am asking you to write what is on your mind, so I might see it too.

© Helene Møller 2026. All rights reserved.

In conversation with Ada Limón’s «The End of Poetry».

Poem discussed with CoPilot, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.