I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light
Like a color slide

But only you won’t understand
You’ll just ask why until you come
Up with your own answer and that
Truly won’t be enough.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
And watch him probe his way out,

Or walk inside the poems room and feel the
Walls for a light switch,
For you can’t find one because your still not
Understanding the process of which the poem
Means.

But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair
With a rope and torture a confession out of it.

Then realize that that’s no way to actually understand
A poem
You must underline the details and make sure you let it
Sparkle for what it is.