POETRY

You Write Yourself Loved

What is poetry made of?

Photo by Ram Kishor on Unsplash

Poem,
what are you made of?

if conjured from spirit —
from those haunted dreams to
awe under a guitarist’s spell

perhaps the shed skin
of former insecurities
or the sense of time
lost from exhaustion

Poem,
if everything is natural —
from the human-made dam to the water-swept canyon
then you, too, are natural

Poem,
you grow vines over hearts
invasive but blooming
you tend gardens to nourish and poison
season and rot

you occur on the lips
unsaid or shouted
I’m alive!
to prove to the night
who made you undone

you write yourself loved
in language to manifest
you write yourself dead
in order to sleep

Poem,
I love you
whatever you are
and from wherever your source

Thank you to Wry Welwood for this interesting poetry prompt:

Geysers and Compost

Samantha Lazar 2024