The Poem
By Hoke Glover
The poem should have guts and organs
And bleed if bleeding is needed
Like a man, like a woman,
So it may better
Run the earth, or destroy, or come to love
Arms and legs
Hands and fingers
With feet and toes
That reach out
And sing want, meeting, and find
Dirt
Water
Mud
And the mix of things
Whether it be dark or light
Cold or warmth
Love or hate
The poem should
Drink from the well of love or spit
What is not love, or get its hands dirty
And then wash them in the river,
In the morning
And sing an old song,
And say it is better than what it was
Better than blues
Better than agony
Better than flowers on a grave
Better than silk winding in wind
Better than birds who sing the song I do not know
It should say
I know tragedy
But I am not tragedy
You know I know hope
But I am more than hope
Yes,
There is thunder
And the way the earth shakes
I too make the world shake
But I am not thunder
It should say
Yes,
This happened
One day
To day
This day
We were here
And singing
Even when our mouths
Looked like they were shut
Even
When we couldn’t say what we knew
What we really were
The poem should be
Words beyond words
As night stretches to day
And day stretches to night
Another
An other
An other and another
And bleed if bleeding is needed
Like a man, like a woman,
So it may better
Run the earth, or destroy, or come to love
Arms and legs
Hands and fingers
With feet and toes
That reach out
And sing want, meeting, and find
Dirt
Water
Mud
And the mix of things
Whether it be dark or light
Cold or warmth
Love or hate
The poem should
Drink from the well of love or spit
What is not love, or get its hands dirty
And then wash them in the river,
In the morning
And sing an old song,
And say it is better than what it was
Better than blues
Better than agony
Better than flowers on a grave
Better than silk winding in wind
Better than birds who sing the song I do not know
It should say
I know tragedy
But I am not tragedy
You know I know hope
But I am more than hope
Yes,
There is thunder
And the way the earth shakes
I too make the world shake
But I am not thunder
It should say
Yes,
This happened
One day
To day
This day
We were here
And singing
Even when our mouths
Looked like they were shut
Even
When we couldn’t say what we knew
What we really were
The poem should be
Words beyond words
As night stretches to day
And day stretches to night
Another
An other
An other and another
Hoke Glover is a poet and author and long time resident of Prince George's County. He has published two collections of poetry and taught at Bowie State University for 19 years.