Letter to a Young Poet

"You’ve already overcome the greatest obstacle of all to the writing of poetry—you’ve accepted your heart and what it longs for as your muse."

Portrait of Rainer Maria Rilke (1902) by Helmuth Westhoff, Rilke’s brother-in-law.

By Michael Judge

Dear Frankie, 

You recently sent me your poems with a short note saying that with them you try, above all, to “speak the heart”—a lovely phrase. “She,” you said, “is my inspiration for poetry.” When you reach my age—poet or not—you’re generally expected to h…