On Poetry and Prettiness

Poetry does not need to be pretty.
It is a distillation of images, of ideas,
to their primary essence.

Poetry is not about cleverness,
although you have to smart to use it well.
Maybe not book-smart,
but your eyes need to see the world
as it is, as it could be, and as it was:
and each in the other two.

Some say it’s about the show, not tell,
but showing someone a sheet of music
isn’t about what it looks like
on the printed page.
There are rules you need to know, sometimes,
that can serve as prison bars,
or a box spring.

Poetry does not need to “make” sense.
It is for the senses.
It should move you
as if you were a dancer,
and the song
was the only thing in the world
stuck with you in the amber of time.

05 Jun 2025

© 2025, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.