On Poetry, Death & Dentures

on poetry, death & dentures


i do not like rectangular poems
i do not like standard scansion by line
i just do not like it
& so i do not follow it

sometimes i can form the poem
to fit the subject
sometimes not
but always
i can make
things
a bit
more
shapely
more like
a hand sweetly
tracing the
contours
of a
body

the body of a poem
like that of a loved one
wants the sinuous caress
of the eye following a desire
the heart trembling into what opens;

curving into what the leaf wants at the tip of . . .

* * *

everyone laughed
then quietly
took a sip
of tea

& speaking of
the suffering
attending
old age

he said, “i
will die
before
that”

& laughing
she said, “o
you can’t count
on death to save you”


Richard Lance Williams

Posted over on More Poetry