for no real poem has a first line br any more than a real book br has a first page br br it comes out of a dark lost forest br or a bright unknowing cloud br br or an unbearable pain br so unbearable that even br if you wrote the poem on a piece of paper br and threw the paper away br it would ease the pain br br or a childhood so miserable br that only a complete change of life br could recognise one single beautiful thought br br or an astonishing moment br when you knelt and prayed br for the first time in your life br to a god you did not know br with words you did not understand br for they were not even words br br or the moment when all the horror of the world br faced all the love and beauty in the world br and both were so taken aback br that they could only embrace br and later, speak br br or a nowhere and a nothing br so stark that only poetry br br without a first linebr br Michael Shepherdbr br