I am a late bloomer in poetry and writing. For years I did not appreciate how much beauty there is in a well-made poem. Since then I have written many, and one of the most important to me is "The Throne", which is posted on my AllPoetry profile.

The poem

Learning a skill can shape your life
better than almost anything.
You have an assistant now
to help your dreams take flight.

Think of art, of poetry,
of every craft you've long admired.
A guiding hand awaits you there,
resting upon your fingertips.

Never before in history
has such a moment come to pass.
What once belonged to only a few
now rests within us all.

There was a time when art was raised
upon the pulpit of the gifted—
where creators wore the crown,
and talent sat upon a throne.

Now you are seated on that throne.
What shall you create?
What dreams will steer your heart?
What quiet longing have you carried
that waits to breathe at last?

Why hesitate?
Why struggle against this new companion,
while turning away
from the voice within your soul?

What did you once dream of becoming?
Ask yourself—
and, like Aladdin's lamp,
this faithful assistant waits
to answer your wish.

The throne is yours.
The dream is yours.
The question has never been whether you could—
only whether you will.

© Ferdouse Khaleque

What the poem is saying

The poem starts from a simple picture. For a long time, art belonged to a small group of people: the gifted, the trained, the ones who could afford the teacher and the time. Those people wore the crown. Everyone else admired from outside.

The turn comes in one line: "Now you are seated on that throne." That is the whole poem. The tools that once separated the many from the few now sit in everyone's hands, and the barrier left is not access. It is the decision to begin.

The questions in the middle of the poem are the part I want readers to answer for themselves: What shall you create? What dreams will steer your heart? They are not rhetorical in spirit. They are an invitation.

The ending is the line I am proudest of: "The question has never been whether you could—only whether you will." It is short on purpose. It lands because the poem has spent its length building up to it.

Why I wrote it

I am an artist with a background in technology, and I believe the two can meet. I also think people should not let social feeds decide how they spend their time. AI can be a patient teacher for drawing, writing, music or any craft you have always admired, but it only helps the people who start.

I wrote this poem to make that argument in a form people might remember. Many people are suspicious of AI, and I understand why. Yet it is built on neural networks, the same kind of pattern-learning that happens in our own minds, and it is only as good as what we ask it to do.

Where you can start creating

PaintologySalsaPal

If this poem made you want to draw, write or build something, these are the places I work on:

Thank you for reading. If you have a poem, a drawing or an idea you have been putting off, this is the moment the poem is asking about.