When did you first start writing poetry?

I started writing poetry before I had a name for it.

Now, decades later, I write lyrics and then find the music (and sometimes the other way round).

Words are power: connecting, healing, liberating.

I wrote a lot of (not so good) poetry in my early teens and then I had many years where I only enjoyed poetry as a reader.

About a year and a half ago my father turned fifty and I knew what I wanted to say but didn't know how to say it. So I sat down with my pen and paper and out came a poem. I've never been so nervous about speaking up in front of a crowd before (I usually don't have a problem with that) and I can't really remember reading it. It's all sort of a blur. It wasn't until family members came up to me with tears in their eyes that it hit me that my words had actually moved them.
That moment right there is where I once again fell in love with writing poetry and now I write somewhere between 2-10 of them each month.

I write mostly in rhyme, but I'm still experimenting my way through poetry and it's a wonderful journey

welcome to AW and thank you for sharing this.

I started writing poetry (badly) in my early teens. I used it as a means to express my feelings because I was an extremely quiet child and could often go for days without talking to anyone. I was very shy and not very good in social situations.

My social skills have improved a little since those days, but still tend to be a bit of a loner.