To the Poet

by Marianne Monaco

You say to yourself you want to write

to distill your experience into words on a page—

concise and essential.

You want to use words as a lens for clearer vision

And you do.

But then you roll the words on your tongue

and you savor the taste.

And you hope that you won’t love

the words too much.

And you hope you won’t crave experience

just to be able to write about it.

First published in Woodnotes #17, Summer 1993, page 31.