To Write A Poem II // Ayiyi Joel // Poetry

To Write A Poem II

The poem need not give you blushes

& flowers & laughter. Let the lines drive you to the edge of tears. Let the poem breathe black smoke; Let the poem burn & let them feel Its heat against the skin. What isn’t burning already? A burning poem is a bright poem after all. Open your chest & allow the poem Stab you with its blade of empathy. The poem can be broken & naked too Like a child in the rain. Let it fall on its way To the pages, scabbing its knee Against an angry edge From the home of your mind. Allow the lines to wander, To cut its own path Through the labyrinth of every mind It crosses like a busy road Love the poem.

Ayiyi Joel, TPC XVI, is a young aspiring poet from Edo State in Nigeria.