How to write a poem

By Kennedy Henning

No one tells you poetry is a puzzle 

One where a lighter found the cover photo 

Before you could open the box 

Lick your fingers and place each word precisely 

Spark the projector in your head 

Paint out the sunrises you see 

Using the nail polish you wore in 8th grade 

Shake hands with the collection of people that keep their shoes tied in your brain

Always ready to cross the sidewalks you keep repaving 

Feel the gravel shuffle under the heels of your brown boots 

Taste the birthday cake your grandma baked you when you turned nine 

Speed up the video tape you put on upstairs 

Pause each memory with sticky glitter glue fingers 

Use broken crayons to write them in a coloring book 

Illustrate the frames with primary colors 

Refrain from fast forwarding melancholy scenes 

They always seem to be towards the finale

The airport is a graveyard for my mother’s tears

But everything sweet usually calls for a pinch of salt 

I don’t know what good poetry looks like

I only know what it feels like

Author Bio

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