Using the unconscious for poem ideas

by Katie
(Whittier, CA)

The other day, I received an e-mail, and the title of the company that sent it to me kept running through my mind. A few hours later, I sat down and wrote a poem with the same title. I had been planning to write the poem for a while, but didn't feel ready to write it until that moment. I think creativity is about being open to signals from our environment -- whether it be our dreams; a sign that we see from the road; a line from a song that we heard years ago.