Sotto Poet Poet Other

A Specific Tempo

Written: July 10, 2026, for a contest sponsored by Brian Strand

                            ****************** 

To read a poem
           is not to hear one
           it is to enter
           through the quieter door
           the voice arrives later.

First—
   the white between words,
      the hush that carries them,
         the margin where pen pauses, 
            leaving ink to dry
            the breath
            the reader...
         does your pulse
      alter, too,
   when language
refuses haste?
   like dust motes 
      floating in the air.

A poem
   asks almost nothing—
      only
         your eyes,
            your unborrowed attention
         the age-old act of awareness
      of remaining
   stay on board
 let the line
         find its own weather
            seek its own skies.

Do not rush
   the syllable
      still gathering rain
         turn
            the page
         as though
      a raw light enters the room
   opening a window
not a feed
   the world need not refresh
         to become unworn.

Reading a poem
   is the opposite
      of swallowing
         while elsewhere
            it is the slow intelligence
            *of tea
         cooling against the lip
      *of bread
   remembering grain
*of light
   crossing a wooden floor
      one patient inch
         at a time.

Your breath
   learns
      the measure
         it misplaced
            even silence
         develops texture—
      velvet,
   salt,
the gentle spirit—
   of introspection
      the soft mineral 
         of whimsy.

The Scroll
   counts
      motion
         the poem
            counts
         returns
      one consumes
   your noticing.

The other
   returns it,
      leaf by leaf,
         until language
         is no longer
      something you read
   but something
that reads. . . . . .you.

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sara Etgen-Baker July 13, 2026 at 3:13 PM loved the physical flow and the meaning you so eloquently captured. just wow...wishing you well from Texas

Jennifer Proxenos July 11, 2026 at 2:23 PM I was mesmerized by the true explanation and meaning of poetry and its artistic flavor - Lasaad I HAVE PUT THIS IN MY MOST FAV. POEMS! Hugs and blessings, JENNIFER

Angela Terry July 11, 2026 at 11:33 AM I like the gentle shape of this poem that sings the praises of the art of poetry.

Kim Rodrigues July 11, 2026 at 4:21 AM Ooh…so good! A winner in my book. My goodness, you made me slow down and listen. A fave, dear one! I love when a poem “reads you.” I love to hear what the reader’s response is. Fave

Alison A Smith nee Howarth July 10, 2026 at 3:57 PM Well addressed. You have truly portrayed the essence of poems.