The Poet

Poetry class is beautiful because
my head is here and only here
and everyone else’s head is here too.

We read the same words,
and when someone speaks,
we all murmur in assent.

The murmuring does not signify that
we are all seeing the same pictures in our heads.

Pictures come from experiences,
and those are all different.

The murmuring is our bodies’ way
of telling each other that
we’ve all come to a mutual understanding
that the words we have just read

are true.

Be curious like the student.
Be eager like the apprentice.
Be diligent like the worker.
Be honest like the artist.
Be patient like the teacher.
This is the way to live.

It is not hard to remember these things
when you are in poetry class, because
The Poet is everything at once

when she writes.