"Poem" by Paul Hostovsky

Some pronounce it poim

Like it has an oy inside it.

The way an oyster

has an oy inside it. The way

all poems ought to have

a little oy veh

and a little oyez! oyez!

inside them.

Others pronounce it po-um.

Like it has an um inside it.

A thoughtful pause.

A caesura. A possum

that got run over,

its esses elided.

Me, I always say pome.

Like an apple or pomme

I want to bite into

because it has an om inside it,

a mystic and sacred

syllable I can't wait to reach

and I have no patience

for all the diphthongs.