i watched an interview with NYC poet john godfrey who detailed his writing practices over the many years of his being a poet.  because of his demanding job as an AIDS pediatric nurse he would chip away at a poem over days or weeks.  but since his retirement it can take him minutes to complete a poem.  i'm reminded of what mi hermano john bloomberg-rissman said about poetry after taking up the art again after a several year hiatus.  john b-r read a poem in APR & said to himself, is that all there is to poetry?  & i think of something the bay area poet/lusophone translater chris daniels said about poetry.  it is as natural as breathing.  & taking a shit, i would add.  what does being a poet mean?  how do you know you are a poet?  how the fuck should i know.  but i think that you are on the path of poetry as a way of life when you are obsessed with poetry.  you think about it all the time.  everything you find interesting is fit for poetry.  non-writing poetry is poetry.  when you walk your dog you think of poetry, in poetry.  when you do ordinary things, live an ordinary life, & consider how to translate those things into words, is poetry.  poetry, to paraphrase the possible apocryphal danish poet, paul la fleur, is finding a new way to live.  writing a poem is the sum of your years plus five minutes time.