Poetry - A Special Way of Thinking

As long as I can remember, I have written poetry to express myself, when nothing else seemed to quite relay what I was thinking or feeling.  A lot of the pieces I have written are very dark, as I revert to writing when I am sad and confused and trying to find my way.  Some of them are written in moments of great discovery - when I realize something momentous about life, or the people in my life.  I have written poetry FOR people as gifts (and some of that has been lost forever as girlfriends have burned them upon my departure) and some of that has been pretty decent.  I should have written them all down and kept them in my possession so they were not lost forever... but anyway, I digress... I believe writing to be cathartic for a lot of people - and I think there are likely more closet poets than myself!

Since I believe a lot of people actually write poetry, I wonder why so few people purchase poetry?  It is nearly impossible to get a book of poetry published... because there is such a small audience to purchase it.   Anyway - in this section I will slowly log out a great number of the pieces I have written.  This is a shorty (if you know me, this is probably shocking as I am generally quite wordy!)  I wrote it in 1992, and I wrote it for a person I met that special summer.
  

CONTENTMENT   

The warm summers night, 

     The bright moonlight, 

          The beauty of the stars.

The whispering wind, 

     The voice of my friend, 

          The rhythm of our hearts.

I realize true contentment.   

-- A.W. @1992