WHEN I WRITE A POEM

Sometimes when
I write a poem
there is something in it
that floods my psyche
and brings a tear to my eye
the words
expressed upon a page
seized by emotion
I feel exhausted at the end
as if my soul was torn away
and left out in the open
I get up from my desk
drained and unsteady
I hesitate in walking
as if I had just come back
from the experience
weakened
without clothes
all my life exposed.