Friday poetry challenge: metapoetry

A colleague away at a conference e-mailed to ask me to send him a poem ASAP--a short, serious poem about the importance of writing. What am I, Insta-Poet? I sent him links to "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes and "Writing" by Howard Nemerov, but this nagging sensation at the back of my mind insists that I'm missing some essential, seminal poem that perfectly nails the reasons we do what we do.

But my drivel-drenched brain can't disgorge the title of that poem, so maybe it's time to write my own:

Letters crawl across the page
whispering secrets, screaming rage,
marshaling arguments, construct-
ing edifices, passing bucks, 
singing joyfully of romance,
boldly calling folks to foment
revolution, seeking peace,
carefully describing geese,
playing games that no one wins,
changing rules, confessing sins,
rattling, rumbling, stuttering badly,
sotto-voce muttering madly, 
counting blessings, courting sleep, 
mourning madness, digging deep
caverns seething with the de-
mons of our nightmares, mining seams
of meaning--letters romp and rage,
crawling, crawling 'cross the page.  

Writing about writing: let's get meta! Submit verse in any form in the comments, as long as you're writing about writing.