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How to Understand Poetry
Debi Swim
… and so you use black to represent despair
the sun, stars and moon rain a myriad of moods
a daffodil becomes a child’s innocence
and the crash of thunder an angry retort
but I’m scratching my head over tender buttons,
refrigerated plums, and red wheelbarrows
yet just the movement of a line,
sibilance of fricate, affricate or even
Emily’s dash to stop or slow the reader
like a selah in psalms – think about it.
Sometimes, you need to listen to the music
just let a poem be
not to rope and hogtie it to crystal clear significance
or beat it to a pulp of deconstructionism.
Just let it be a poem.
Debi Swim is a wife, mother,
grandmother and happy WV
poet.
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