Life of a Poem

©Janet Henderson 

Round the table,

copies shared,

coffee brewed,

notebooks opened,

concentration.

Poet’s introduction,

comments flow,

structure unpicked,

revision

laid bare,

technique examined,

concision,

allusion,

metaphor

and metre

recognized,

applauded;

it’s assumed

this poem

will live.

In the barn

wind howls,

footsteps tread the stair,

lights flicker, subdued

in anticipation.

Poet stands

in cavernous space,

faces turn.

Small voice

reads,

heavily accented,

mouth scarcely

open,
eyes down,

scanning the page,

on and on,
unvarying tone,

unintelligible,

and so

the poem dies.

©Janet Henderson October 2017