If You Are a Poet
Hear Mary-Jane read this poem
If you are a poet, kneel!
If you are a poet, wash your hands with oil.
Throttle the king;
love better the weak;
turn a blind and hungry eye.
If you are a poet, paint the dove white.
Spit in the yawn of my face.
Swallow the needles;
whisper to the Gods.
If you are a poet, bleed out;
forget the red silken band.
Watch the lazy clock;
miss the train.
If you are a poet, deny!
If you are a poet, sleep in the warmth of my lap.
Throw the piano;
bend the unbendable;
send back the message.
If you are a poet, sink in the shallow water;
slap your aching wrists;
look up to the liars;
smell the burnt air.
If you are a poet, shuffle the cards;
fly, fly like a drunken goose;
bury the treasure;
hold shut your heart.
If you are a poet, leave!
If you are a poet, return to your body.
Study the curved breast.
Lick the dry sand from your lips;
smile at the jester.
If you are a poet, draw longer your brow.
Plunge deeper the dagger;
lose your temper;
follow the wild stallion.
If you are a poet, take the blame:
march on the barren fields,
set free the broken birds,
lie still in your pain.
If you are a poet, wane with the moon!
If you are a poet, tie me to the mast.
Meet me half way,
drink the full cup,
set fire
to your
weary
body.