Am I a Poet?

I have always written poems. On scraps of paper, serviettes and sometimes even on something I can’t lose! But I have never called myself a poet. I wonder what it would take?

My poems were selected for the inspiration for international Mural Fest in 2009 and 2010. I completed a work of poems and stories to accompany photos of old huts and cottages after that, but still I didn’t call myself a poet.

I’ve written poems for friends in grief, for weddings, funerals, and just when words call me.

When a friend was diagnosed with cancer, when I’ve tried to make sense of a world that often seems senseless. But still I didn’t call myself a poet.

So today when a poem I wrote for children was published on the Australian Children’s Poetry Blog, I wondered if it might be time to consider calling myself a poet.

©Jacinta Lou – Poet?