why do i write?

[National Poetry Writing Month 2025, Day 3]

i’ve been asked
'why do you write,’

and it feels meta to write about writing
(though i’ve done it before)
but i can attempt to answer.

when i speak,
my thoughts move faster than my mouth
while at the same time,
my mouth moves faster than my thoughts.

if that doesn’t make sense, i know, it doesn’t, i agree
but it happens, and it means i sometimes
come up with great ideas
while having a chat;
ideas i didn’t know i had in me.

and sometimes
it means i put my foot in my mouth
or say something i didn’t quite mean.

and sometimes
i lose my train of thought
and i need to take a pause i don’t want to take,
which often leads me to say something i didn’t mean to or want to say.

and sometimes
i can’t find the words,
only to think of them later when replaying a conversation back in my head—
for better or worse.

when i write, the same thing happens.
my fingers move faster than my thoughts
and my thoughts move faster
than my fingers.

but when i write, it’s something that makes sense
it’s something that works,
my fingers and thoug…