If I Were a Poem
If I were a poem,
I would grab you by the ankles
and rustle you up to your every leaf.
I would gather your branches
in the power of my winds and pull you skyward,
if I were a poem.
If I were a poem,
I would walk you down beside the rushing stream,
swollen with spring, put thunder in your heart,
then lay you down, a new lamb, to sing you to softly sleep,
if I were a poem.
If I were a poem,
I wouldn’t just talk to you of politics, society and change,
I would be a raging bonfire to strip you of your outer wrap,
and then I would reach within and with one touch
ignite the song in your own soul.
If I were a poem,
I would hold my lips one breath away from yours
and inflate you with such desire as can exist
only just out of reach, and then I would move
the breadth of one bee closer, not to sting
but to brush you with my wings as I retreat
to leave you holding nothing but a hungry, solitary sigh,
if I were a poem.
If I were a poem,
my thoughts would finally be put to words
through your own poetry, I would push you that far,
if I were a poem.
– Sara Holbrook
I appreciate how you expose me to poetry which I would not read on my own! 🙂
So glad to hear it! I just love this one.
Each year in my classroom, I’d finish my poetry unit with a coffee house. Kids would memorize and recite a poem, drink coffee (a first for most sixth graders!), and eat treats. I’d memorize something new. This was a special one.