At the Division of Poetic Licensing
by Tabatha Yeatts
The first thing weary people notice
is how comfortable the chairs are.
People would be content to wait all day
if only getting a license was less easy.
As it is, people still stretch out
their visits, stopping on the way out
to admire the poem tees, the poet-trees,
pocket-poems, poem tattoos.
They return for more advanced licenses,
commercial licenses, early renewal.
Maybe it is the chance to play
with the cymbals that draws
the young ones to the rhythm corner,
the odor of coffee, cinnamon, and
chocolate that pulls hungry wordsmiths
to the tables in the back.
The longest lines are for the microphones.
Nearly everyone wants to hear their words
reaching out to an audience,
drawing them in.
The magic is that no one
is here who doesn't want to be here.
In fact, that's how you arrive.
You have to want it
to find it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donna at Mainely Write is our Poetry Friday host today.
17 comments:
I love the image of the youngster poets being drawn to the cymbals... I think the poems I wrote when I was a tween had a lot of cymbals in them. :-)
Love it!
I don't know, I think the chair being uncomfortable might nudge me toward the microphone, or at least the coffee table. LOL! Very clever poem.
I like this! "You have to want it to find it."
Great poem, Tab.
I, too, love the "cymbals" in the "rhythm corner" part. Lots of levels there...including all the song lyric poetry written. Songs that we memorize and that effect us deeply.
I like to use cymbalism as much as possible...the louder the cymbolics the better the frolics. Oh, great. I have to go put this in my writer's notebook now. I feel my license being renewed!
Such a good poem! I love "You have to want it/ to find it." So true!
Of course, the problem with getting one's poetic license is the years and years of training! (But that's not really a problem, is it?) Really enjoyed this, Tabatha!
I thought the previous post was your Poetry Friday. So happy to have checked back, Tabatha. This is so clever that I thought first you were applying poetic license to obtaining a driver's license, working hard to find the words that are pure poetry in one of those places one must endure every few years. I read the beginning like that, then took the layer off. It's beautiful to contemplate the many moves one makes in poetry, and "The magic is that no one/is here who doesn't want to be here." Beautiful.
:You have to want it..."
YES!
Donna's comments made me laugh! Great poem, Tabatha--thanks for sharing this. I loved the wordplay!
P.S. My favorite line is "In fact, that's how you arrive." :>)
I loved this! Clever and thought-provoking.
"hungry wordsmiths" = YES!
So clever, Tabatha. :)
Just plain awesome, Tabatha. (Somehow in the last few months I have become a person who says "awesome," after years of resisting it. What can be done? Oh...it seems my license is up for renewal!. I'm going to be required to drive with corrective filters.) Perhaps the only thing missing is a mention of a learner's permit. I'm interested in the long microphone line.
I once wrote a poem that began “Welcome, welcome to the Department of Frozen Moments, Ms. Ganz!
We heard from the folks in Accumulated Baggage that you’ve been spending a lot
of time there, but it’s nice to know you haven’t forgotten us completely.”
Happy long weekend to you too!
What a captivating poem , Tabatha! Love the line "pulls hungry wordsmiths to the tables.." Clever and well done!
Love this!
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