Poetry is not an answer
Poetry is a calling
a vision that does not vanish
just because nothing
concrete comes along, or
because the kingdom of heaven
is under some tyrant’s foot
Poetry is not a right
Poetry is a demand
to be left alone
or joined together or whatever
we need to live
Poetry is not an ideology
poets choose life
over ideas, love people
more than theories, and really would
prefer a kiss to a lecture
Poetry
Poetry is not a government
Poetry is a revolution
guerrillas — si!
politicians — no!
Poetry is always hungry
for all that is
forbidden
poetry never stops drinking
not even after the last drop, if we
run out of wine poets will
figure a way to ferment rain
Poetry wears taboos
like perfume with a red shirt
and a feather in the cap,
sandals or bare feet, and
sleeps nude with the door unlocked
Poetry cuts up propriety into campfire logs and sits
around proclaiming life’s glories far into
each starry night, poetry burns prudence
like it was a stick of aromatic incense or
the even more fragrant odor of the heretic
aflame at the stake, eternally unwilling
to swear allegiance
to foul breathed censors
with torches in their hands
Poetry smells like a fart
in every single court of law and smells
like fresh mountain air
in every dank jail cell
Poetry is unreliable
Poetry will always jump the fence
just when you think poets are behind you
they show up somewhere off the beaten path
absent without leave, beckoning for you
to take your boots off and listen to the birds
Poetry is myopic and refuses to wear glasses
never sees no trespassing signs and always
prefers to be up touching close to everything
skin to skin, skin to sky, skin to light
poetry loves skin, loathes coverings
Poetry is not mature
it will act like a child
to the point of social embarrassment
if you try to pin poetry down
it will throw a fit
yet it can sit quietly for hours
playing with a flower
Poetry has no manners
it will undress in public everyday of the week
go shamelessly naked at high noon on holidays
and play with itself, smiling
Poetry is not just sexual
not just monosexual
nor just homosexual
nor just heterosexual
nor bisexual
or asexual
poetry is erotic and is willing
any way you want to try it
Poetry
Poetry has no god
there is no church of poetry
no ministers and certainly no priests
no catechisms nor sacred texts
and no devils either
or sin, for that matter, original
synthetic, cloned or otherwise, no sin
Poetry
In the beginning was the word
and from then until the end
let there always be
Poetry!
—kalamu ya salaam
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