Swizzle Stick

writing poetry be like

It can be like making pastry,
rubbing butter & flour
between fingertips,
dough-gloves forming
on fattening hands
& do I even want a light
& flaky poem?

It can be like pulling teeth,
requiring force, muscle,
commitment, a blind ear
& a little bleeding

It can be like flying a kite
running with a phrase
a concept, or just a word -
unleash it, free to soar, dive,
tangle up in trees

It can be like herding cats
& some cats are herdier
than others

It can be like taking dictation,
automatic, ready, rapid,
from some anonymous
dictator

It can be like a friend
or like isolation,
torture, or an orgy

It can be like a simile,
linking the disparate
creating shocking
new ways of seeing