Inspiration is the basis of any piece of writing.   One can be inspired by people, places, things and abstract thoughts.    Turning inspiration into something tangible is not an easy task.  It takes patience and hard work.  It takes the ability of a writer to take words and somehow meld them into meaningful expression that can elicit an emotional response from the reader. 

Poetry, with its figurative language, tries to express in fewer words than prose the inspiration in the mind of the poet by way of concrete images.  When a person approaches a poem, the reader must delve deeply into the imagery and the flow of the words, feeling the lyrical effect those images have on the psyche.  A poem can either leave one with an “a ha” moment or with total confusion because the imagery was too distant from the reader’s experience.  

Poetry needs discipline because of the literary limitations of form.   There are strict structural rules to follow if one decides to write traditional verse such as a sonnet, haiku, nonet, rondeau, etc.  Being limited by structure, syllables, rhyme and meter means that grasping the right words to bring inspiration to fruition will be more difficult than having to use the format of prose.   While prose allows the writer the time and space to develop the ideas and inspiration through more details, definitions, development and so on, poetry relies on few words to express the total theme behind the poet’s intention. 

Poetry also requires a world view that sees beyond the three dimensional, conventional, material world in which we live.  Inspiration to a poet becomes more than words.   The response the poet wants from the reader may not necessarily be one of mere approbation,  but rather the need to share insight into a thought dwelling in the poet’s imagination.   Moreover, the poet doesn’t necessarily want to tell a story, but rather to share a feeling or a spontaneous revelation.    For example, the poem by Joyce Kilmer, “Trees”, expresses a very personal view, yet when one reads the poem, that personal view becomes universal in scope:

I Think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
 
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
 
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
 
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
 
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
 
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree. (1914)
 
The ability of Kilmer to take a physical object as common as a tree and glorify it into something greater than a poem written by a mere mortal demonstrates, not only the glory of God, but the humble inspiration that is in itself from God.
 
Inspiration, in its essence, is not a physical attribute, but one that is intangible and finds its way to those individuals willing to partake of its offerings to share with the world.