I write in the belief that things need to be said, that is, words have to leave the mind and scramble on to a page in a grammatically comprehensible form. Writing is not the same as speaking. Naturally the variances between the two forms are to do with the differences between hearing and reading. I sometimes prefer writing in verse, especially when I'm not quite sure what it is that I would like to say because my thoughts are disparate. In those moments, rather more than thinking I feeling certain emotions that seem not to have any particularly coherent linguistic shape. So the verses flow and some definite things get said that were not predicted beforehand. For example, read these lines from my poem 'David Jones':

If one weren't so sentimental
One could get to like this place
Where everything becomes complete,
Just by floating on the surface.

What these words mean is up to individual interpretation of the reader. Many people have turned off poetry because they are used to reading prose where the meaning is clear but they miss the point because they think that literature ought to project answers to the big questions of life and as such contain big meanings. In essence literature describes a series of small events. The enjoyment of poetry is about reflecting on the meaning of words and not at all about understanding an overarching idea or message.

The mind works in strange ways and as a literary form, poetry best expresses that state of eccentricity. I detest the term "stream of consciousness" used to describe the work of certain writers because to me it is a misrepresentation of the writing process. It does capture the image of a writer frenetically scribbling as all the pent-up material pour out in gushes but it diminishes the essential artistry and craft of authorship solely down to inspiration. Writing is not simply a matter of transferring what's in the mind. A writer must make choices about how a thing is said. Thoughts must merge into the conventions of word usage. A wordy but more accurate description for such an immediate method of writing might be: "the rapid re-ordering of perceptions". There is an elusive thing called 'technique' in art.

What literary people call "style" is really the quality of "voice". Watch this excellent film clip of the American poet Tom Klooser, and note how well what he says matches the manner, accent, cadence and timbre of his pronunciations. He sounds like a man who runs a shop of magic, as what he says sails to your ears on a puff of wind: