By: James Aitchison

                  (In appreciation of Michael Torres)

Why did I write a particular poem
on a particular day?
What strange convergence of forces
suddenly came into play?

Did I catch words as they fell free from God?
Were my thoughts plucked from the sky?
If so, I am grateful that they
did not pass me swiftly by.

Or did I, like Michael Torres, listen
to what the poem required,
what it was asking me to write,
and thus found myself inspired?