POEM: My Poems

By Joanna Crowell |

He asks,
“What do you do with your poems?”

I reply:

I play with them. I fight with them. I flirt with them. I avert from them. I dress up for them. I am stripped down by them. I skinny dip into them. I dance naked on them. Yeah, I even get jiggy wit’ em! I sing the blues out of them. I pour the joy back into them. I open my French doors for them. I abstain from them. I get wet waiting for them. I am a drunken fool for them. I take twelve steps toward them. I am sobered by them.

I carve them. I chip away at them. I get into the grooves of them. I smooth my surfaces with them. I accept my flaws because of them. I am flattered by them. I am humbled in them. I am beautiful. To them.

I stop to smell the roses with them. I notice every detail in them. I pick them. I am pricked by them. I bleed with them. I die in them. I ascend to them. I am reborn through them. I birth them.

I hold hands with them. I face my fears with them. I tremble in them. I share my secrets with them. I share my secrets with the world through them. I cry for the world on them. My tears are caught by them. I am baptized by them. I drown in them. I float above them. I am consoled by them. I find my soul in them. I am emboldened by them. I am subtle in them. I cuddle with them. I like to spoon with them. I become consumed by them. I taste every vowel of them. I swallow the sum of them. I drink every consonant of them. I am quenched by them.

I breathe them. I live them.

I am them.

And then

           I give them away.

Joanna Crowell is the author of the book I Ate a Rainbow for Breakfast: Poems & Performances. She is also a playwright, an actress, a creative writing workshop facilitator, and a mother. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies and Social Justice and Peace studies from the University of Western Ontario. Joanna currently manages Remedy Internal Medicine & Wellness Center in Charleston, while at the same time is working on producing a healthy eating video series with her 10-year-old son.  More: www.joannacrowell.com