Sometimes I feel My Own Heart Beat

I read the poem-a-day poem today And I really liked the words, and how I had to think about them. But then I listened to the recording of the poem by the actual poet, and by the end of the first stanza I no longer liked it I turned it off. The poet’s voice sounded robotic, and fast, and uninterested. I have heard this before, in other poets. I should learn. Never listen to poets’ recordings of their own poems. Unless it is Naomi Shihab Nye, Or unless it is Trapper Markelz, or unless it is me. My favorite thing is reading My own poetry In my voice Aloud Oh, how I love what a voice can do to a word. I like playing with the length of words. Playing with inflections. I love using the spoken word – as a means of art – . When I have a student who loves poetry as much as I do I have a sort of secret fondness for the student – And if the student proves to be able to maintain their interest in poetry over Say - three or four months (or even years) And they don’t back down from it The student becomes part of my heart beat Sometimes I feel my heart beating after I read a poem Or while I am writing one. This is happening to me now.