Not About

Poetry is not about
the cutting tearing or sawing
of flesh.
Poetry is not about
car/train wrecks, heart attacks, knees to the groin,
and grandmothers with necklaces on fire.
It’s not about thrown pottery
hurricanes
or screaming.

Poetry is about
the kitchen table in perfect alignment
with the chair.
And poetry is about
the sunlight in that kitchen
picking out
the faded blue checks
of the dishrag
until they glow
with the potential
of a sky.

— Christine Hamm