[Max Goodman]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

Chuck Close ...: “Inspiration is for amateurs.”

Yes, that's what makes that end of the spectrum so attractive. Part of me feels (as I imagine many of us feel) that my poems should be products of pure love, written for no reason but that I was inspired and felt driven to write them.

Certainly when I read others' poems, I want to believe this of them. Though I know that good poems can be inspired many different ways, knowing that a poem was written because the poet wanted to write a poem that day (or to meet any goal other than following the inspiration to write that particular poem), would not make me eager to read it.