Sixteen reasons I've started writing poetry again

1. It's so damned enjoyable. There's nothing quite so nice as working on a poem. Even the frustrations are poetry-sized.

2. It takes far less time [usually] (not effort) than writing a novel or even a short story. It's feasible to knock them out in half hours or hours; and if they're good, keep 'em, and if they're crummy, bin 'em. Hard won prose is much less disposable. Even two thousand words of story garbage is hard to jettison. Poetry is very easy come, easy go in manner.

3. There's a whole bunch of stuff to mess around with. It's like being a kid in a toy store. I want that! and that! and that! There are the various forms - clerihews, limericks, haikus etc. Then there are rhymes to mess with. And there are all those Greek bits to line up, the metres such as the dactyl and spondee. Subject matter. Story. Length. Imagery. Lines and stanzas. Punctuation. Yadda-yadda-yadda. On and on and on. You get the idea. Who could get bored?

4. You have to think very hard. It's intensive intellectually. Trying to get all the components to mesh together takes effort. Poetry can work on so many different levels and one can say a lot in few words. But only if one is very calculated and committed and hard-working.

5. Doing it refreshes the creative machinery, like a different and welcome grade of oil lubricating the gears and pulleys of the mind.

6. The results are relatively quick and satisfying. You can also show them to a friend or partner for perusal without having to wait days for them to trawl through acres of words.

7. It's not something I'm ever going to perfect. There's a lot of room for one to grow an explore and get better and perfect and

8. It's eminently performable.

9. It's like working with centrifuges to spin whatever substrate language and ideas lie within into strands and essences. Or maybe it's alchemy - maybe cookery. Whatever the process is, one feels the clods and lumps turning into something.

10. I think I have things to say. There are ideas. There are finished results. I think what I want to confess is that it's a great way to explore and vent feelings.

11. I like poetry and appreciate it. Mostly. Robert Frost thumbs up and Tennyson thumbs down.

12. I realised that I missed doing it. Reading it - inventing it. I've been hell bent on knocking out words for stories for so long, and, having touched the poetry stone, I've become enamoured again. Thanks to Lauren for pointing out that writing poetry was still an option.

13. I'm keen to be able to compare and match my work alongside others. Classic compare and contrast. It's like being part of a large and welcoming club.

14. It works to distract me nicely from what I should be doing, which is editing a long, long book. Nice one (cheeky grin - though I will also be doing the editing as well, I assure you.)

15. It's the sort of thing one can comfortably do on the back of an envelope. With a crayon if necessary, i.e. sitting down at a computer is not the best way to write poetry. A lovely notebook one can pop in a pocket is just perfect.

16. It's very personal. It readily transmits one's innate character and temperament to the reader.

If you want, take a look at Putin Stalks. I like it. I hope you do too.