What to write?

What to write
when I've no idea
what to write?

What to write
when the words I write
do not see eye to eye?

Who can I ask
what I should write,
and who might know?

Good souls abound
with great ideas
for written words.

But the words themselves
might have some thoughts.
Old hands at this,

they've been around,
know where they fit
and how they sound,

how apt they are
in any milieu
for any theme.

Choose a word
or choose a theme
and they'll fall in

one by one
or in twos or threes
choosing themselves -

and watch for the nudge
or the friendly wink
conscripting a friend -

who'll say what you think,
and all with the roles
of troops we'll send

to alien lands
with foreign tongues,
giving little thought

and only a few
standing orders,
rules of engagement

and a rule of thumb,
but never a word
on how to survive.

We lose their trust
with unfeeling ways
and wonder why

they've deserted us
and where they've gone
from our lonely pens.