Best Poems Written by Tamar Westphal

Poet's Voice/The Pie Poem

How do I find my poet’s voice?
It’s like turning a cup upside down
and waiting for a drop of water to slide out, 
and it won’t come. 
There’s something there, 
but you can’t get it.
No matter how hard you try. 
You can see it going to the edge 
of the cup,
but it won’t go far enough.
It keeps stopping. 
And you’re 
really
thirsty, 
but you just can’t get the water.

It’s like trying to tie a piece of string around your wrist, 
but it isn’t long enough.  
Trying to make it go farther,
to pull it a little tighter,
and it just won’t go.

It’s like wanting to hold an edge 
just a second longer while skating.
Knowing you’re going to stop.
Knowing you’re screwing up,
And that your posture is bad, and that
no doubt you’ll hear it from your coach.
And you just want to start again.
But you can’t.
So you just keep going.

It’s like trying to cover a pie with a piece of cloth, 
because you don’t want the ants and bees 
to get into it,
but the cloth isn’t big enough.
Checkered cloth,
trying to cover the lattice top 
of a peach pie
sitting in the grass.
But you can still see the crust. 
And the bugs will get in.
And you’ll take a bite,
And instead of pie,
You’ll get ants!
The ants will colonize the pie.
So you have to find a way to 
cover
it 
up!

It’s like trying to write a two-page paper,
and only having one and seven-eights of a page.
Trying to 
drag
it 
out 
as much as you can.

Like trying to make Noah’s hair lie flat,
and it’s always sticking up.
It just keeps on growing.
Like the grass,
teeming with ants,
who colonize the pie.

My poet’s voice.

Copyright © Tamar Westphal | Year Posted 2006