How Poetry Began
Two brain cells walked into a bar
one disagreed with what the other said
but both agreed he could say it.
One said: “What if you said it like this?”
and they argued the value of words,
those that were spoken, those that were heard.
Into the fray marched a whole brain of grey
asking: “What makes you say the things that you say?”
and “Why when you say them, do you say them that way?”
Then came the head with the eyes and the chin
said “I dare you to say the whole thing again.”
“I doubt that you could, not that you would.”
And so the two brain cells, over pizza and beer
repeated the sounds in an effort to hear
the pounding of hoof beats, the shriek in the night
the sound of the words giving emptiness sight.
Then they consorted with the head and the brain
comparing conclusions though none were the same
the hoof beats to rescue or battles retreat
or maybe the sound of a child’s dancing feet.
Was the shriek one of fear, or a mother’s surprise
the first time she gazed into babies blue eyes.
They agreed to the meaning of the words that were read
but couldn’t agree - what was heard, what was said.
Time would continue, the battle would rage
should the words be delivered by mouth or by page
could the speaker be brilliant, the audience dense
the reader confused, the words make no sense.
The bar is still open, though the patrons don’t know it
to honor the memory of the two brain-celled poet.
John G. Lawless
9/10/2014
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