Amsterdam journal: predictability in writing 7/8

Derek Walcott once took a poem of mine, and folded it in half, lengthwise, and then said, if you can guess what will follow from the first half of the line to the second half then there is no mystery.

I had asked Paul, what do you think when you can second-guess all that A poet is going to say? Idea for idea. He said, I think you can say that in the structure of a common language, we unconsciously follow established paths. A manual of expression. Sometimes it is significant, how little we have we are original, or creative in our writing process, and in our reflection of predictability.