For my Zen and Emerson class last year we read "Thirteen Ways of Looking At a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens. We had to write a poem in a similar style about an object. I chose a Post-It note. I recently re-discovered it and liked it so much that I'm posting it.
1
A neon pink splash of brightness
In a boring black and white world.
2
A wordless signpost
For my lazy hand.
3
It twists in many ways
Always at the mercy
Of one force or another.
4
Infinite creases
Serve as scars
Of the way it was
In some fleeting moment.
5
Jagged edges
From when I ripped it
Make it stand out
From the page it marks.
6
A tree was cut
Then ground to a pulp
And pressed and processed
Until we had
A little Post-It note.
7
A man had a prayerbook.
The markers wouldn't stay.
A failed glue was applied.
A revolution was born.
8
Small as it is,
It's still an essential part
Of my daily cycle.
9
Without it,
We'd waste our lives away
Constantly searching
For that one page
We barely remember,
But must return to.
10
It doesn't prefer
To be squashed in its place.
It pops up on its own
When given room to breathe.
11
One day
It will not stick
And I will leave it to rot
In a landfill far away.
12
The book is closing.
The Post-It note suffocates.
13
It may seem different
Tomorrow, or in an hour,
Or in a moment,
But a Post-It note
It shall remain.
Love it.
