Does Creativity Take Courage? Poem by Denis Martindale

Does creativity take courage…
Or just the chance to try?
And does poetry take knowledge…
Or simply asking why?
And when a painter makes a start,
Is everything to scale
And when an actor plays a part,
Is he set up to fail?
It's true that courage stirs us on…
To be all we can be,
When at full strength, our doubts are gone,
To end uncertainty…
It matters not that we succeed…
If we don't really care,
Creative people serve a need…
That's in the art they share…
While some get paid for what they do,
The rest don't get a thing,
It's really only just a few
Who live well like a king…
Does it take courage staying poor…
Yet not give up at all…
Or merely patience to endure…
Or some great miracle?
This much I know, from all I've seen…
Creative artists try…
The years pass by yet they're still keen…
For their faith cannot die…
It stirs them on and on and on…
To do the things they love…
Just like a light that's always shone
And always proved enough…


Denis Martindale 27th of February 2020.