I think if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. And worth thinking about it as well.
I'm not sure anyone can understand a whole life, even their own.
The thing about inspiration is that it takes your mind off everything else.
You have to learn a few things, which you do along the way, but basically, poetry is a matter of the ear. Iambic pentameters or what constitutes a stanza comes naturally - your ears will know.
Dear though the reader might be, I'd be silly to cater to what the reader wanted.
It is exciting to write about the present once one gets beyond the trivia of the moment. As a time to live in, as a time to think about, the present is intriguing.