A lust for life (and lenses)

I never learned how to paint. And, I am sure the little man
can sketch / doodle better than me; I mean he would have done
it far better than me even before he started going to "drawing
classes". But it has been said by some of my readers that there
is a bit of the imagist in my poems. Or rather, I have been told
that some of my poems are rich in "starkly vivid, photograph like
imagery" and that I "juxtapose allegory and metaphor with images
to draw pen pictures".

Is it because I am trying to paint with words? Or is it because
when (I take a photograph) or try to drink in a landscape / view
with my mind's eye -- immaterial of if I am already "writing" the
poem or gazing at the beauty of the outdoors in

awe, the poem has already taken root in me?

You know what this means. Yes, it means that everything that I
see is potentially an image that can be drawn in words, a poem.
And from the very time I have realized that I have been
boggled -- not at the prospect of what masterpieces I may be
destined to draw but at the scarier one. Of not being fast enough
or receptive enough to draw all the poems that come to me.

For being unable to focus all my being into the poem, for
doubting it, and for so on and so forth...

But then, all said and done, its a good problem to have;
its better than being totally closed to poetry and being
unable to write (drafts) with originality fed by immediacy.

Or so I feel.

I don't know if I can "devote" my life to poetry. Its tough
as it is dealing with the trickles that my "self" lets in.
Its tough as it is dealing with the epiphanies that come
unbidden, but still the greed remains -- for more. The greed
remains -- for more "writerly purpose", extended periods of
"writing in the zone" and for the overwhelming lust for life,
one that teaches a complete focus on art, to the point of being
madly obsessed with it -- Van Gogh like.

And yes, the greed remains; for better lenses. Yes, lenses that
give me a wider angle on life, and lenses that let me zoom in
and block out all that is irrelevant too -- for though I may
not be primarily be a photographer, many of my poems come to
be through my eye.

As I go down on my knees, in reverence and awe.