To a Reluctant Writer

You can pick meaning off words,

You can paint pictures;

You can laugh at them,

Who laugh at you;

You can mourn

The follies of the unwise.

To write is power,

Of words, thoughts,

Limitless and boundless,

As the sky above and earth below;

You will never be alone

When words churn in your mind.

You can be heartbroken,

And cry and cry;

But a poem would wipe tears,

Puts a smile on your face,

Erase the pain

Of loneliness and love.

So won’t you write?

A letter, a poem, an essay;

We would gladly plunge in its depths,

Smile at its humour,

Relish what pains it took you,

And forgive friendly trespasses.