How to Make it

How to Make it

A poet’s art is to compress

. say more by writing less

the blacksmith hammers blades that hiss

. pounds molecules of metal to an edge

. A poet’s art is to expand

the mind, pierce hard shells of dogma

. that confine the senses and

taste the naked flesh and relish it

Don’t abuse, but love the words

. you use, for they’re your only link

to other thinking minds before

. in bodies that begot you

with words and love tangled in the sheets

A poet’s art is tightening

. the bow of meaning, like a string

that bends to blue notes and holds on

. to outlive the dying echoes of the song

The Blinded Eye