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a poet i admire
said once
everyone can write poetry
but not everyone
can be a poet
a lot has been written
about what poetry is
lots of metaphors & similes
reminding us that
everyone shits
everyone vomits
everyone bleeds
& thus everyone can write
it occurred to me today
while in the bathroom getting ready
that everyone can write
but being a poet
is more like brushing your teeth
watching the waste spill from your mouth
& swirl down the drain
then noticing a red line in the
foamy circling mess
the normal response is to
stop & locate the source
to stop the bleeding
but not for the poet
the poet keeps brushing
harder & harder
raking & scraping the brush
across his bones
until the red overtakes the foam
stops to check out the
blood ivory grin
in the mirror
then brushes
even
fucking
harder
- erek smith
