If I Were A Poem
If I Were A Poem
Ellie Shuert
If I were a poem,
I would be a happy one
I wouldn’t make you drip or melt
Or chip or break
I wouldn’t even be in love with you
If I were a poem.
If I were a poem,
I would pull my life lessons from the sky
Sunrises instead of sunsets
Hands grasping at wisps of clouds
Actually catching them for once
If I were a poem.
If I were a poem,
Your body would not be flowers
Or paintings or streaks of sunlight
Your body would be your body
And beauty would be a fact
If I were a poem.
If I were a poem,
Joy would be my title and my fingers the stanzas
Kneading and wringing out the simple things
I would wear ocean breezes, dancing in the rain,
And Bible verses on my skin
Over hurricanes and recounted scars
Wouldn’t you
If you were a poem?
If I were a poem,
I would be a happy one
I would be ostracized, surely, by other poems
For my unprecedented optimism
And I would gladly stand alone
If I were a poem.