I Am A Poet When

I am a poet when

My words paint pictures

Like Botticelli or Jackson Pollock.

I am a poet when

My words have rhythm

Like a speech written for the stage.

I am a poet when

I see things in my head

Like a mother who has seen her child die.

I am a poet when

I can look at a tree and see Nature’s magnificent work,

And something else, sinister and hidden.

I am a poet when

My words can make someone feel something

Like the way you feel when you look at your own child.

I am a poet when I can make you laugh at the ridiculous, like life itself.

I am a poet because I have to be.

When you have lived as long as I have, you have no choice but to be one.