I AM A POET BECAUSE

I AM A POET BECAUSE

By Farah Lawal Harris

I am a poet because

I can’t answer “How are you?”

with a simple two or three-word phrase like

“I’m fine” or “Hanging in there.”

I gotta tell the truth.

I am a poet because

my mind moves faster than my tongue most times,

and my foot tastes better

when the words dance and rhyme,

because repeating

“the big black bug bled black blue blood”

for warm-ups bores me to tears,

because I once was a puddle in a corner

til’ I put a name to my fears.

It’s lonely as hell here.

Words don’t just

up and abandon you

the way people do.

Poetry is truth in a world of lies,

an exhale sigh after a good, long cry,

the tangible legacy I leave behind.

—

For Day 3 of National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo