A Million Poems

I wish I could write a poem

That made everyone want

To create something

A poem so easy to remember 

That you never forgot it

That would offer comfort to

Those who grieve from loss

That would heal the heartbreak

Moreover, take away the tears and ache

A poem that made you like poetry

Burn inside, to write your own poem

I wish I had the words to describe

The possible futures, instead of the past

A poem that would last, not simply disappear

A poem, which would communicate all

The terrible suffering of poor peoples

I wish I could write a poem

That would make the whole world weep

Shudder with wracks of sadness and

Hug each other in long eloquent hugs

That could capture and seize

All the wounds we carry forward

Urging us to heal and move onward

I wish I had more courage to write

For all of you, and not always me

To see past the trees into the forest

I wish I had the strength to write

To overcome, all of our shame, to

Enunciate our self-humiliation

That which paralyzes rebels

I wish I could write a poem

To apologize to mother Earth

Also, share her agony with us

A poem that finds you in your desolation

Finds you in addiction, during self-mutilation

Finds you when you give up on everything

I wish I could find the essence

Of our humanity so we could see it

In ourselves, and in everyone else

I wish I could write about

The optimism of all us, even in

The reality of life’s shit and piss

I wish I could write a poem

That aroused your brain and 

Made the whole world orgasm

That found someone somewhere

Needing human touch, needing a kiss

Craving contact, this poem would

Rub the shoulders of your back

I wish I could write a poem

Filled with joy and celebration

That could make the world smile

A poem worth billions of dollars

So, that I could fund the movements

A poem that took away all the debts

I wish I could put words together in a way

That would call out your name

In the moment of despondency and terror

or simply when you missed someone

I wish I could write a poem

That repaired all the bridges we burned

Telling us to hold each other closer

A poem that made the rich quake

Speaking to power, confronting authority

A poem that raised goose bumps on

The arms of the working multitudes

That could explain freedom and alienation

Utopias and permanent revolution

A poem that would raise class-consciousness

That was not too dogmatic and condescending

I wish I could write a poem that was

So beautiful people would love themselves

A poem so generous and sympathetic

That we stopped being greedy and selfish

So horrifying, we saw war for what is was

A poem that told of the violence

Towards women, children, and Queer folks

I wish I had the words to tell you I loved you

To tell you that we can make it all better

I wish I could write a poem

That meant something to someone

Forgiving someone of something

This poem would have the power

To destroy everything and to create everything

I wish I could write a poem that would

Crush everything and let go of everything

A poem that described to each other the

Lives of bacteria, viruses, and the smallest life

A poem that the whales and dolphins liked

Something that the coral reefs did not hate

A poem that made the rains ponder falling up

Or the volcano to implode, the tornado not to spin

I wish I could write a poem that showed

That the emperor was naked

A poem that grew the trees tall and wide again

About the past, future, and present at the same time

A poem that made the

Ants and bees stop their toil for a moment

That awoke the cicadas and locusts all at once

I wish I could write a poem that

Exposed and put the army of shadows to rest

A poem that illuminated the shadow armies of death

That taught the map of the world

And the names of us all to each other 

Every town, every city, every person

A poem that made no statement 

That came after, end with a question mark?

I wish I could write a poem

That touched you somewhere, someplace

Enough to give it to someone else

What is a poem that cannot do of one these things?

If one poem cannot do all these things

I must write a million poems