Poetry is Your Friend
It’s undeniably true, life
weathers you. There’s no doubt
about that. Gardens crammed
with slightly creepy little elves,
a van parked on a deserted lane,
the sky almost purple when you look out.
That’s when you turn to poetry.
You may not know it of course,
but that’s what you’ll be doing.
You’re doing it right now, superficially
despite yourself, riding this wave
of energy out of nowhere. It feels good,
doesn’t it? Like a high-sugar drink
or that special moment, you know
the one. It’s here to help
even if it sometimes forgets,
gets all wrapped up
in counting syllables and such.
It wants you like a tyrant or the sun.
—C. J. Allen
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from A Strange Arrangement: New and Selected Poems (Leafe Press, 2007)