Community Poetry Journal

My sister recently shared this poem with me "Valentine for Ernest Mann" by Naomi Shihab Nye. source

Valentine for Ernest Mann by Naomi Shihab Nye
You can’t order a poem like you order a taco.
Walk up to the counter, say, “I’ll take two”
and expect it to be handed back to you
on a shiny plate.

Still, I like your spirit.
Anyone who says, “Here’s my address,
write me a poem,” deserves something in reply.
So I’ll tell a secret instead:
poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes,
they are sleeping. They are the shadows
drifting across our ceilings the moment
before we wake up. What we have to do
is live in a way that lets us find them.

Once I knew a man who gave his wife
two skunks for a valentine.
He couldn’t understand why she was crying.
“I thought they had such beautiful eyes.”
And he was serious. He was a serious man
who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly
just because the world said so. He really
liked those skunks. So, he re-invented them
as valentines and they became beautiful.
At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding
in the eyes of skunks for centuries
crawled out and curled up at his feet.

Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us
we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock
in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite.
And let me know.

I really enjoy this take on just what poetry "is". This line is probably my favorite from the poem, "What we have to do
is live in a way that lets us find them." ... it's just interesting to consider how someone might live to find more poetry. Also reminds me a little bit of a poem I wrote 2 years ago for NaPo poetry in plain sight which is also about finding poetry in the unexpected but ordinary.

Have you tried to write a poem about "what" poetry is? It seems like a fairly common poetic topic for a poet to consider and write about. What were your thoughts about the poem?