I Am A Poet

I wrote my first poem, a song, when I was seven years old, “I’m higher than the mountaintops swinging on my swing…”

I wrote poems off and on over the next forty plus years. I shared some and showed others how to write them. But poetry was mostly just a pastime.

I took poetry courses and earned my master’s in creative writing, learning new forms and the art of revision. But poetry was just homework.

I submitted a poem, “You, Yellow Birch,” to a journal, and it was accepted. I got to see my published words and my name in print.

But I still didn’t see myself as a poet.

Then I started the practice of writing poems (almost) every day. It was just an exercise.

But I began to experience poetry every time I ventured out with my dog—in the crunch of leaves on the ground, in the turkey tracks in the snow, in azalea blooms falling, in the light between the beeches.

I found in those daily explorations what I’d been seeking all my life—a way to embrace the beauty around me, a way to grow into a better version of myself, and a way to share a piece of who I am.

My name is Denise T. Drapeau. I’m fifty years old. I am (and have always been) a poet.