In order to grow as a writer, you've got to be willing to risk it all every time you sit down to write. You've got to be open and brave and curious. We're all born poets. We all enjoy the sounds of language.
Every new parent knows that.
Poetry is a natural part of our lives. It's not just something we have to memorize and recite in front of the class. Losing ourselves in a poem is one of the best ways of finding out who we are. The act of writing brings us to that point of discovery, of discovering on the page something we didn't know we knew until we wrote it. Don't let reality cloud your imagination.