A Statement of Poetics

I often collect words and place them in my handbag

Later, I organize my lip balms and hand lotions

Later, after I have put my lip balms and hand lotions in good order, I organize my words

I put them in an order that seems most poetical to me

I line them up and if I am very lucky they will tell me a poem

If they are feeling ill and have gone out smoking the night before, their voices will be scratchy

For the most part I do not appreciate their scratchy voices and ask them to refrain from smoking

On occasion, I will smoke as well, and then I do not so much mind the scratchiness of their voices

On occasion, I enjoy this scratchiness so much that I will ask a word to repeat itself

Sometimes, flattery is not a good idea for a word

Sometimes he will become arrogant and condescending and puff out his chest as though he has just won a horse-race

I detest horse-races

I am not sure that I detest anything else quite so much as horse-races

I am sure, however, that I do not enjoy insincerity

On occasion, a word will lie to me

I am a gentle person and react quite reasonably

I swear and curse and rage and threaten to throw it out on the streets

But, owing to my gentle nature, I will never throw it out on the streets

Instead I will inspect my handbag for crevasses and pockets

Crevasses and pockets are good places to store things you don’t want to see

If it so happens that my handbag is lacking in crevasses, I will sit on it until it is sufficiently wrinkled

If it so happens that my handbag does not have pockets, I will get a new one

Part of the process of getting a new handbag is emptying out the old one

This is a process I very much dread

There is nothing quite so bad as facing someone you have hidden away for a long period of time

They are often prone to bitterness and anger

As a gentle person, these are emotions that make me anxious

For this reason, I take much care in selecting my new handbag in the hopes that the promise of grand accommodations will somewhat reduce the bitterness and anger hidden away in my old handbag

Very often, this is exactly the case

Very often, I will find that time in solitude has made my words receptive to change and compassion

Very often, I will find that I have no need for pockets in my handbag

All the same, it is pleasant to have a new handbag after you have crushed your old one with your rear end