poetry from the heart
i love poetry
i say this to children in classrooms decorated in a jubilee of wow words
i love poetry
i say this and the children look at me thinking
will we have to write a poem
i tell them they love poetry too
and yes
they will have to write a poem
i have to tell them i love poetry in case nobody else will
in case nobody else takes them to the slim bookcase in a bookshop
and pulls down a book thickened
by paper cheaply chiselled from the tree
in case nobody else takes them past everything which has stopped anyone
from telling them
they too love poetry
past the word
past the understanding
past the fact no poem has ever
yet
been turned into a film
and i would ask them not
to write a poem
but to tell me what they love
in any way they can
and then to go and play
in the space between lessons
and ask where they feel more alive
because that is why
i love poetry