Incantation Over Written Fire

Incantation Over Written Fire


Dig deep, don't
be afraid to get
your fingernails dirty.
Don't settle for
skimming the top.
Break through
the surface tension,
see what roils
beneath. Take
a deep breath. Sink
into the depths.
Breathe the sounds,
inhale a
connotation,
swallow whole
a vision.
Don't choke.
Go ahead--
break a tooth,
let the nerve tell you
about living.
Don't hold back:
in a poem,
it isn't what
is all right there
to see,
but what lies
below,
the stuff
simmering, boiling,
waiting for you
to take the chance
and find out
what you have
been missing all along.
Then ...
do it again
and again
and again
until you suck out
all the marrow
out of the bones
of the words.

Don't settle
for dessert
when you can
have a feast.