What to Say to Those Who Think You’re a Fool for Choosing Poetry
Tell them yes.
Tell them poetry is what chose you.
Tell them
you had a night, once,
just as they did
Prompt Poems
To the Man I Kissed Sitting on a Sunkist Orange Crate Smoking a Doobie
is where I buy my groceries—
where an onslaught of folks with a library of high ideals
carry eco-friendly jute bags of peppermint chard, Meyer lemons,
free-range organic eggs produced by happy, healthy hens—
Wolf
I have no other
ransom money, nothing to break
or barter but my life.
—Diane di Prima
Speak
However difficult a door may be to open,
once you find the key it becomes easy.
—Enta Kusakabe
The ‘B’ List
Prompt: “A Two Sylvias Press prompt, entitled, ‘Make a list, baby!’”