Today’s optional prompt asks you, like Alice Notley, to think about your own inspirations and forebears (whether literary or otherwise). Specifically, I challenge you today to write a poem that deals with the poems, poets, and other people who inspired you to write poems. These could be poems/poets/poepl that you strive to be like, or even poems, poets, and people that you strive not to be like. There are as many ways to go with this prompt as there are ways to be inspired.
Poem: Who propels my poetry?
Poetry? Nah! I’d never dreamt of writing
Until a chance discovery, I think I would call it
The day I quilled the first few verses
The picture of a young girl dancing breezily
“Wings of freedom” was all I could see
And that’s how I stepped into the world of poetry
Words of acumen by men of great feat
Stimulate my brain, prompting me to trace
My questions and notions, my whining and musings
Be it Maya Angelou or Oprah Winfrey;
Khalil Gibran or Paulo Coehlo;
Vivekananda or Buddhist teachings
The marvels of nature hold me in awe
I drift to a magical world as I soak my pen in these
Oceans and hills, valleys and beaches
Sun-kissed flowers and rain soaked trees
Embellish my blank sheet miraculously
As I turn into a poet to spell my experiences
Emily Dickinson- never fails to inspire me
Shakespeare? Yes, I admire him
Oh I’m an aficionado of Hindi and Urdu poetry
Gulzar, Ghalib, Javed Akhtar or Mir;
The way it touches the soul, it moves me to the core
And then springs the desire to word what I feel
Well, how can I not credit my poetic fraternity
Who inspires every moment with its emphatic verses
The challenging prompts, the incessant calls to writing
The various poetic forms, the unlimited resources
As I take cognizance of mundane and extraordinary
To forage my unrelenting urge to learning
Poetry is everywhere, I strongly believe,
In laughter, in tears, in friends and fears
Emotions often coerce me to voice my beliefs
Love instills a feeling that warrants poetry
Sometimes it’s a desire to attest to the world
That I do exist; don’t overlook my identity
But no matter what I write or who inspires me to write
It’s for me, myself, that I indulge in poetry!
©Vandana Bhasin
14.04.2020
My Feelings My Freedom 
We love to read you.
This was again a masterpiece by you 👍
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Aww…thank you so much dear Rashmi. Your love keeps me going ❤️
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I believe that most poets write for themselves, but it is lovely to be able to share yours.
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So true Peter! Emotions drive the poem. Thanks for sharing your views 🙂
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A perfect tribute to all those poets and people who shaped you as a writer.
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Yes indeed! Thank you Smitha 🙂
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