A poem for you to read

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Here

Take this poem
It’s for your treasure box
Place it with the porkie quills, the cowries,
the ivory elk’s teeth
Keep it safe, keep it precious
it’s yours to hold in trust, my cherished friend

Take this poem
and don’t be shy: share it with the person next to you
Tell them that you, too, are vulnerable
Spread it like butter on popcorn at the movies
Offer it like peppered herbs in a sacred ritual pipe
Blow it like a kiss
Let it fly like leaves, like letters between lovers
you are no longer strangers

Take this poem
and tell the world
Teach it to your students, recite it to your teachers
Send it to the papers, issue a proclamation
Declare it society’s security
Tell the neighbors when you gossip
Whisper it to the librarian
This poem is cosmic
consequential
This poem is here and now
It’s very real
It’s all I have
and I’m giving it away

poem copyright Doreen Shababy

photo credits:
upper pic, Doreen Shababy
lower pic, Kim Flesher Shaw