Every one of my poems—if you want to know the secret
Of my poems—is a form of poetry advice—
Even if the poem seems to be about something else; seriously, this is it.
This might seem incredibly pedantic and narrow—
Poems are understood broadly in terms of worldly happiness or sorrow.
Poetry advice? Am I crazy?
I’m not. Neither am I lazy.
Think for a minute. What else should poetry be?
What is all of cooking? A recipe.
What is a republic? If society should be nice,
It might use Plato’s Republic as advice.
Are you beginning to see? Advice
Is not just rhetoric’s highest purpose.
It is the highest consciousness of what we can do.
That’s why my poetry speaks so forcefully to you,
Even as my poetry doesn’t know
Anything in a pedantic sense the world must normally know.
And so poetry as advice (all things need advice) should be directed
To the poetry, and from itself, the poetry.
Why do you think, despite the fact I’m a poet,
I’m happy, and respected, and free?