Monday, September 10, 2007

a blade of grass.

by brian patten

you ask for a poem.
i offer you a blade of grass.
you say it is not good enough.
you ask for a poem.

i say this blade of grass will do.
it has dressed itself in frost,
it is more immediate
than any image of my making.

you say it is not a poem.
it is a blade of grass and grass
is not quite enough.
i offer you a blade of grass.

you are indignant.
you say it is too easy to offer grass.
it is absurd.
anyone can offer a blade of grass.

you ask for a poem.
and so i write you a tragedy about
how a blade of grass
becomes more and more difficult to offer,

and about how as you grow older
a blade of grass
becomes more difficult to accept.

Posted by STINKY @ 9:20 PM