Jaynie, fantastic post. I want to offer a few things. This:

The moments are never planned or predetermined… I get completely enveloped by emotion – overwhelmed and consumed. Then, I write. The words are never strained, and they land one after the other in a completely seamless and symphonic manner. To me, those moments are pure blissful release, irrespective of the emotion ultimately depicted by the culmination of those individual characters.

reminds me of one of my favorite quotes about poetry. William Wordsworth said “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” For me, it is a way of processing those overwhelms, whether experienced as painful or pleasureful, and coming back to the center of who we truly are.

I read the quote, “The poet is the priest of the invisible” and it made complete sense to me. This is exactly how I experience it. Everything that is unseen – all the passion, hurt, desire, rage, love – all of it! In those moments, they all show themselves – speaking their truth through almost cryptic lyrics which display a yearning to be heard yet protected.

Poetry, again for me, is a straining at the bounds of usual language in order to express that which transcends ordinary speaking's ability to encompass the grandeur or grand-squalor of an inner state. There is a yearning to make oneself known, heard, and seen—not only to and by others, but most of all to oneself.

You write with evident passion, and I believe that is the truest prerequisite for a poet—to feel deeply. This likely extends to art in a more general sense, as creative products without heart are mere exercises in technical brilliance but do not touch us at great depth.

This

I want to feel
the satin of your world
against the skin of mine.

Was probably my favorite line out of all of them and a powerful conclusion to "Today I walked." Otherwise, I enjoyed the intensity and message of "Cognizant," and really sunk into the rhythm of "Salt on my lips." I want to acknowledge you for sharing all of these—says a lot that you are willing to share this part of yourself with us all :-)