Who doesn’t love a poem about a poem? Today’s #verselove prompt at Ethical ELA was presented by Glenda who also shared a mentor poem and video by Darius V. Daughtry, what can a poem do? Daughtry’s poem begins with a series of explanations of what poems don’t do, then pivots to what poems can do. For my own poem, I decided to focus on what poems can do without the examination of what they can’t or don’t do.

What a Poem Can Do

A poem can peel back skin

revealing he heart

beat

beat

beating

A single word

can taste like childhood

licking up

soft-serve

in the swirl of memory

Leave

space

to breathe in

space

to breathe out

tapping the melody of

today

against the rhythms

of all the yesterdays

A poem can paint the world

in every shade of blue

until color

explodes

in new opportunities to see

@kd0602