So, I wrote this poem exactly one year ago, today — and it’s now live, via Remington Review (their summer issue is free & live: check it out HERE; I can’t wait to dive in and see all the art included).
Thanks again to my brother Justen Ahren for helping organize the reading at Featherstone Center for the Arts, which prompted this poem (also exactly one year ago — so if you believe in the karmic power of the universe, play the lottery or tell someone you love them, and throw a wish out there). And give praise and support for our independent literary journals (!!!!)
I want to write poems
I want to write poems
the way they used to build houses:
Expertly and one nail at a time; no short cuts.
I want to write poems
the way coast lines are created:
Wave upon wave, sea assiduously sculpting land.
I want to write poems
the way trees burst forth from acorns:
Each thirsty root interconnected within the soil.
I want to write poems
the way wines mature from grapes:
Sour miracles transformed into something savory.
I want to write poems
the way rivers flow into oceans:
Drawn inexorably by whatever science can’t explain.
I want to write poems
the way grains grow in barren fields:
The earth and its animals sustaining life in symbiosis.
I want to write poems
the way stars illuminate darkened skies:
Their energy abiding long after they’ve expired.
I want to write poems
the way poems used to be written:
Flashes of inspiration divining all that’s inscrutable.
I want to write poems
the way poets describe the mystery of life:
A series of successive drafts ceaselessly revised, like poems.
