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I do not read your poems

I have held it
Caressed its jagged smoothness
Embraced its subtle metaphor
Wept in its nuanced nudity

I have been held hostage
Imprisoned by strangers
Tortured by their words
Scalded by their souls – unsheathed

Escaped
The arduous and trivial
Riding the stoic stallion
Of poetic resonance

I have been enraptured by words
Flowing gently over pebbles
Cowered in the catharsis
Of a spirits rebirth

I have danced with you
Laughed with you
Healed with you
Cried with you

For I am a poet
I do not read your poems
I allow them
To read me

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Jim Slaughter

Date: 6/24/2024 10:59:00 AM

That's a feeling I have had on so many occasions, John, but just could not put it into words as eloquently and elegantly as you have in this amazing piece.

Crystol Woods

Date: 6/24/2024 4:57:00 AM

Oh wow... that's incredible and so touching! ... and true for many of us. Writers understand the kind of effort and chucks of bloody meat that usually go into every word we write. Knowing how much of ourselves we offer in our poetry, we are aware and grateful to read poets words. Xoxo

Hilda Greenhough

Date: 6/20/2024 5:59:00 PM

Oh, what a thought. I must use care. Thank you.

Lin Lane

Date: 6/20/2024 1:03:00 PM

You are a rebel of the most endearing kind, John Lawless. Emphasis on 'most' but not as in an oxymoron as your example of "jagged smoothness." Your lines are often perfect imperfections of who you are, what you envision, none of which are moronic. I fear I've trodden off the path I intended to travel. Bottom line is you ARE a poet, and to me, unlike any other... plaudits!