THE WAY POEMS WORK Poem by Silke Scheuermann

when they glitter
with ineffable casualness
or open out
shining hypnotically
or are introspective
find the world difficult
disperse
The way poems work
common or garden
coming with their own illustrations
approachable
while remaining distant
The way poems work
kitted out
with residence permit
and flight ticket
is to approach the heart of winter
by persistent denial
Lastly describing a perfect circle
around cold
and always a little altitude
like a Boeing
waiting for permission to land
but becoming
ever more visible
to all below
The way poems work
to catch up and absorb
thirty pages that no one
has yet written
as freight that you
can hold in your hands
in which you can make out the sky
forget to breathe
from sheer happiness
The way poems work
is chance
adventitious
and of course
blazingly obvious