the trouble with reading poems in a book
or with eating cookies
is that the more of these poems and cookies there are
the faster you go through them.
the proper way to munch a cookie
is the proper way to read a poem
when you take a poem
munch little bits of it in at a time
take the time
not just to taste, but to smell it
to feel it with your fingers
try reading a poem
when the environment is proper
during a sunset
perhaps
or
the first third in the morning,
the second third in the afternoon,
the third third for that sunset,
and the last line before you sleep
now that’s fulfilling
but you say, how
can I spend so much time on one poem if there’s so much of them to discover?
but I say, dear friend
why not discover the other way around the “so much” within each poem?
I do not know if that’ll be saying too much
for one cookie
anyway, what I guess I’m hoping at least you’ll do:
enjoy a poem like how its poet enjoyed it
Sincerely,
“Annie Poette”
