Wings

Are poems not things

Do they not have shoes                           and socks?

Can we not use them like                        teapots?

Do they not grow like                               vegetable plots?

Are poems too heavy to pack in           hand luggage?

Or too light to be sung by a                    choir?

Do they not have teeth and                     claws and beaks

Can they not warm you, a                       flame-flickering fire?

Can poems not speak

With wit or                                               tongue-in-cheek

Truth to power, prayers on                      placard or flier

Are poems not things like                      paper and strings

On a kite that can fly                               so much higher?

What if poems WERE things like        diamond rings

Or the tick tick tick of a                           clock?

We could give them                                wings

Try new ones on for size

Wisely choose from                                jar of old keys

To unlock…

Copyright Jill Turner 2025