Advice to the Young Woman Poet

Do not imprison yourself in a cage of rules
they will bend and break your bones
let the twinge in your heart
instruct you like an experienced school teacher.
Write a poem because you wish to breath
Experience. Not for the vain glory you get 
showered with.
Read your work 
let it not let you down
instead rise from the ashes
everytime your emotions burn
as ferociously as a forest fire.

Do not question yourself
when you are lost
let your ink flow
and stain the skin of the paper
Let words scream
like your mother did
when she gave birth to you.
Leave the lies alone
let the lamp of truth lead you
surrender, as a child does
to her mother when she is fed.
Count the birds that you see outside the window
let your words soar like their flight.
If you fall for a man
name your poem after him
until he finds a home in you.
Take a road less travelled 
lined by trees that lose their hair
collect them carefully
let their colours guide you.
Pick the flowers soaked in love
laid on a cemetery
let their souls lead you.
Allow your poem to swim
against the tide
let it not be a puppet that
will dance to your tunes
let it bleed
freely flow in pain
like a menstruating woman
let it burn like a candle
that knows that it will die
still sheds tears of death.