From where do you draw your inspiration?

The works of Douglas Adams (The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency), Dante (The Divine Comedy) and John Milton (Paradise Lost) have been influencing me lately, as has been the Bible and Beowulf. I've been getting into jazz poetry (read: post modern) too. I like Hughes and some others very muchly.

Of course, I can't begin to list everything that influences me because everything influences me. My past experiences, the media (oddly, commercials in particular), music, etc. But now I'm interested in who influences you. So... commentate!

I'm an emotional person, so what influences me the most is my own experiences and emotions. I tend to write as they are happening or directly afterwards. Anger, Sadness, Happiness, Love, Lonliness- all of at some point has been recorded in my poetry.

However, I also draw from literary sources, most recently from Paradise Lost and a bit from the Bible. But all literature in some aspect influences and inspires me.

I find that hope is my inspiration and the ability to perservere. But most of my poetry ends in disappointment, which I often feel. I find that human nature inspires me too. I once read a book which said that inspiration comes from art (of any form) which gives very little detail, and so sparks the imagination.

My inspiration tends to come from what's in my head at that precise moment. It could be song lyrics, or the expression on someone's face, or my own need to tell someone something. When feeling mushy, I write buttloads of terrible poetry. Poetry that will never see the light of day, because it's sitting in my closet pretending not to exist.

Most of my best stuff seems to be from when I have a clear point in mind--or when something really important happens but no one seems to notice it.

You can also tell what I've been reading from the style I write. I went through a phase of Beat-loving, so my work was all scattered and snappy. Sometimes when I really like a style one of my friends uses, I'll try and duplicate it (bad idea, by the by). I'm a bit like a myna bird when it comes to writing.

When I find out I'll let you know....

poetry/writing= sex, heartache and love

paint= watching the lines of great artist. I love the texture and pattern of the lines and I try to duplicate their strokes.

photography= LSD.. J/K actually light and the memory of LSD