! ! The Algebra Of Poetry. For Jim As If. Poem by Michael Shepherd

OK you’ve written 2000 crap poems you say.
Now pack up this arithmetical stuff:

there’s an algebra to poetry:
equations full of unknowns:

for a start, the 2001th poem that you write
will contain 2000 times the…

well it’s a complicated equation:
it starts with the familiar

x for the expression which has improved
a thousandfold since you began;

y stands for the hundreds of times more wise
you’ve since become, by just writing poetry;

zzz is the way, that half-asleep,
an unforgettable word or line can slip into your head;

z too, for zeal and zest, that Muses love
and fly a little closer while you write..

then, it wouldn’t be a real equation without
‘squares’: for all that’s squared within your mind as poetry takes shape;

and brackets: for that intrusive, brilliant phrase
that slips between the wagons of your train of thought,

sometimes so surprising that you’re not too sure
it’s true; but trust it; tomorrow, know it’s right;

and oh so much more to this equation
of knowns equalling unknowns, spelling out a poem;

mass, energy, and the speed of light
writing themselves into some new formula

which only humility may harness;
a light to light the world with words.