No Cigar

You can’t teach poetry pro forma it’s the effort of a fool You can’t gain sagacity from a book or by the golden rule You can’t be what you haven’t lived the safety net misleads You can’t bleed with another’s blood transfused each phrase deceives The dance floor or the balcony true seekers get to choose And write those words their pain has forged —that dilettantes misuse (Dreamsleep: April, 2023)