I don’t write poetry because I don’t know how to connect with anything that really matters right now. I don’t write poetry because my brain tightens up, even as I’m trying to get it loose and in that state of mind whatever I write sounds far too obtuse. I don’t write poetry because it requires a depth of feeling that can hurt and leave me staring blankly up at the ceiling. I don’t write poetry because I prefer to repress feelings that real poets struggle to express. I don’t write poetry because it requires me to admit that much of my self image is really full of shit I don’t write it, read it, see it, or feel it. I put all my effort in trying to conceal it. Still, sometimes when my feeling state safely submerges, a poem from some weird place spontaneously emerges. I do not willingly write poetry because it’s just too risky I wouldn’t be writing this one if it wasn’t for the whiskey.