George, I read this first thing on a Monday and I think it will set the tone of my day, I shall watch my words and pray all that I say or write is poetic, this is priceless. smh

I wonder how many poems died inside of me or got lost on a piece of paper or napkin because I figured they would perish and go up in flames at the stake of some reader. Thanks for your honest revelation of questions that probably most of us have had but have not had the courage to articulate. Good write, George. May our poems ride the wind to germinate in the light for all who have the vision - to see.

...george, i am one-man-grinning; you speak of a [cutely put] disease. that of [i can't say it--hurts too much.] those pomes we've murdered by not doing something w/ them-like Glenn says, we choose to perish them rather than take a postage stamp tour of every po-dunk 'contest' just to see them in publication; alas, much angst is realized in your synoptic verses, well written and since it is well written--it hurts like the $#%@ens to 'see' what an intrigue this need to write, be good a expression, is ...some tweek is always needed. this life of poetic writing, you define well in a short-short ...

I really enjoyed that second stanza - the images made me chuckle, and the whole idea of "at the stake of some reader" gives this an intensity and a perverse randomness that reminds me that ultimately I write for my own enjoyment. Thank you.

I wonder too, George, if the bonfire is more fitting a place for some of my offerings...or someone may find in them a gem I hadn't conceived when I sat down to write. It is the hoped for gem that keeps us writing, I am sure

Ah,I think we all wonder. Often, it is more about the state of mind we are in at the time we read and whether or not we can connect to it. Many times I have gone back and reread things we write, and gotten a totally different emotional response, based on my state of mind and changing experiences, usually for the better. :)Great poem, George.

This is an excellent question, and to be honest with you, I have no idea. Nice write.

I think the short answer, George, is all of the above. I think each word either written or uttered exists autonomously from every other word, and thus every situation under which each present themselves differs. I think ultimately words need to ask the same questions concerning those who urge them into existence, i.e. the duality of every creative human being in whose charge and care words have been placed to mean what each world will mean and appear to be doing in every instance.