Poem Machine

A Poem

I put another into the poem machine pull the lever, push the button, click send

and wait, we are out here every day and it is seemingly insane —

the writing the hustle the effort the flow going and going and never knowing,

what will reach, what won’t, what will hit home, what will miss it all every line is a heart, my heart, someone’s heart

every word is an extended hand, comforting, begging, wishing, longing, trying, trying, trying,

to cross to that point where the gift is seen, the gift is received, the feeling of identity, existence, reality, dream, is all one thing -

watching the poem machine tick and click and twist and turn all day, over and over again,

we wait, we get dizzy with anticipation, we find the small victories, we take the mini-wins,

we nurse the wounds, we are poets of course, we are the walking wounded as they say, no lies detected, find the lie, of course it is the truth -

because let’s face it, poets — no one else is out here, hearts beating raw in hands,

trying to give and push and pawn this thing onto anyone else,

to just take it, please - and hold it for a while.

Jenny Justice is a poet mom who longs to bring poetry to life in ways that spark empathy, connection, joy, and feeling. She loves writing love poems, climate change awareness poems, poems for kids, and of course, poems about poetry and poets. You can follow her on Medium and at Jenny Justice, Writer. You can follow her poetry at Justice Poetic.