Does a poet know it?

I keep wondering, ‘Am I a true poet’? I did not learn traditional poetry – rhyme, scansion, meter, haibun, haiku, syllable count, trohee or is it trophee, and all that.

We all have different learning styles ( Gartner’s theory of multiple intelligences and all that)

Mine is to learn by doing. Just plunge in and try to stay afloat. Just like I learned swimming. Touch wood – I haven’t drowned yet.

Meanwhile, in poetry, I stay afloat because of it. When my mood plummets and I turn to poetry, a previously suicidal feeling seems bearable and life seems worth living again.

It’s my raison d’etre.

While I’m overthinking this way and losing sleep, I hear about a poet who has got a book deal in English without knowing the language. She used AI and technology and got herself a social media following. The agent announced it.

I asked him “With there be a line included saying ‘AI Poet’. He says ‘ No.’

My answer is – “And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
Then the sign said, “The words on the prophets are written on the subway walls
In tenement halls”
And whispered in the sound of silence”

P.S. I anticipate more sleepless nights.