Dreamy Poet

Introduction to poetry
(after Billy Collins)

I ask them to hold a poem
like a prism
and watch it refract colours
they can’t imagine

or just sonograph its heart.

I say send a bee into the poem
and it will fly out with gallons of honey

or take the poem out for a walk
and it will talk to you about its meditations.

I want them to crash land
on the poem’s verandah,
and meet the poet outside their skin.

But all they do is
butcher the poem into a thousand parts
and rummage through it to find
autobiographies of the poet.

They place the poem on a lie detector
to know whether it is about the poet or not.

©Kavya Janani. U

If you love my poems, please consider purchasing a copy of my newly published poetry collection From The Land of Longing.

You can check out my other freeverse poems here: Freeverse Poems by Kavya Janani.