What is a poem?

A contraction of concern
An epithet of threat
A way of saying what you think
A pithy, verbal debt

Or written so it must be read
As code or playful cypher
The cloud of sunshine.
The ray of rain
That lovers give a life for

A surgical incision
Like you take a knife to cutlet
With simile or metaphor
In lilting rhyming couplet

An instruction from the teacher
When she gives you all the time
To write a little masterpiece
(You don’t have to make it rhyme)

A recipe of taste and thought
In a package of expedience
A distillation of all we know
That’s more than its ingredients

It’s everything we think, we feel
A wiki of the soul
It’s the cherry on the cake
Or added to life’s bowl.

A beating re-creation
That examines and inspects
The brio and allegro
Of drugs, rock, roll, and sex.

An eyebrow-lifting smile
In a mirror that reflects
A pulse in rallentando
Con heart.
Con soul.
Con text.