This poem is free
This poem is free
Poem by Mindy Evans
Art by Val B Russell
This poem is free because
I could never charge for words
because
I can’t produce on whim
because
Like Walt Whitman,
I prefer shouting my poems on sidewalks
because
my words are not limited edition
This poem is free because
my pockets run deep like my soul
because
wondering a wooded path is free
because
the act of writing
is not spontaneous but holy-
like washing a dog on Sunday
This poem is free because
you listened to me as a child
and heard my dreams.
because
of your creative spirit
because
there is no charge for inspiration
-refers to the phrase “grant me words” from Rose Auslander’s poem This
4 Responses “This poem is free” →
Elizabeth
July 8, 2010
“I prefer shouting my poems on sidewalks
because
my words are not limited edition
This poem is free because
my pockets run deep like my soul”
Very wise poem. There is a saying that goes something like this, the best things in life are free.
jessiecarty
July 8, 2010
I should get Mindy over here to talk more about it but the poem came out of I think her aunt saying that she’d pay her for a poem or something. If we really got paid for poetry what would it even be like? How much would it change to be shaped to someone else’s desire?
rausland
July 8, 2010
This morning, my husband told me about a magazine that pays $100 per joke. He read me a couple, and they weren’t very funny. It made me wonder what kind of poem I’d write for $100 . . .
jessiecarty
July 8, 2010
I have a hard time writing something, especially poetry, specifically on demand so I’m not sure I could do it!