Water-fountain Music
for Keva Bethel

"Hadn't seen you since you added the foliage,"
said she

what I eat, what I drink, air I breathe, become my beard
weight to bear, load to carry

worry not at all, at present, about appearance

my support, it seems, does not come from how I look
dress up or not, I get left alone

except for those who love what a poet does,
what a poet knows

I'm going where a poet goes,
with followers or without,
words flying from my pen and from my mouth

my beard’s from where my words come from
I make pens sprout, I grip them in, grip them with
my green thumb

"I hadn't seen you since you added the foliage,"
said she

stroking what she spoke of: I her pet, her kitten,
poet takes off his mittens to tap into poems

boxer removes his gloves for a street fight
in such a brawl, he draws blood with a blow
with another, a broken nose, with another, he breaks teeth

this poet does not like the smell of defeat
as stink, as unpleasant as smelly feet

"I hadn't seen you since you added the foliage,"
she added


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2006