I don't even know how to answer my own question. There are so many poems. Poetry books falling out of my shelves - each one full of associations. In fact for some reason wrenauld texted me the other day asking me to recommend a poet. I couldn't (except of course like mk - the Bard - but many many favourite poems. One that has haunted me for a long time is "I Wake to Sleep" by Theodore Roethke, especially the line "I feel my being dance from ear to ear." -- This line reminds me that we are in a relationship with ourselves, outside from any role or relationship with others. I don't think a poem ever made me change direction though, at least not yet.
That is a very nice line. Our internal perspective is pretty absurd when you think about it. Sometimes you feel keenly aware that you are sitting in a cockpit, and sometimes you can completely forget about it, and your mind moves into the moment of experience. It's funny that the other Shakespeare I can recite is Hamlet's To Be or Not to Be soliloquy. I feel compelled to recite it if I am ever holding a skull, or if I am drunk. I suppose I think about death more than I should. :)"I feel my being dance from ear to ear."