Restraint Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

As a wise friend of mine once said,
Poetry is like watercolor painting.
It must be accomplished in a few bold strokes.
Any fussiness just muddies it.

Poetry does not frame the silence
It plays with it like Whistler with white
Like Wyeth with his window
Like Rembrandt with the dark.

Poetry is not an elephant with a brush
Or a chimpanzee with a chisel
Or a child with a rhyme.
Poetry is planned
Executed
Defined.

Poetry depends on the interplay
Of the mind with nature
Of the soul with time
Of ambition with art.

It cannot come with a rush
Unless ideas have been dammed.
They wait for the storm
To set them free.

And yet, they do not stampede.
They dance like ballerinas
Knowing the choreography
Before they must perform.

So if a phrase stays with you
If an image lodges itself in your mind's eye
Know that it lived in the poet's potential
Long before it made its way to the page.