Twigs snap in the woods
a beginning for any poet
within the likes of you and I

     but the poet is idling

          unrelated episodes by the hundred-
          weight, light-hearted; rivetting;
          don't make up a life

               poetry concerns itself with life

monkeys have sensed smoke
guessed at its cause, investigated
and raised the alarm

     yet the poet lounges on

          repeating tics from top pop songs
          repeating worker's movements
          in empty days aghast with hunger

               poetry aims to feed the spirit

while fighting for a marrowbone
unnoticed the pack has grown
now even the strong can starve

     but see the poet speechless

          lost in self-imposed darkness:
          for the sake of dreams 
          the jewel of the present is missed

               poetry holding out a lantern 

when the deluge comes, ultimate night
no need for surprise nor complaint 
each bird tends to the nest to the end

     but how the poet is deluded

          like a living text-book  
          set to explain all the world
          as if those proud pronouncements matter

               over grains of sand poetry breaks