[LIKE A DIAMOND TRAPPED IN LODE...]

Another written for class. The assignment: write a poem after a beloved master. For this I chose Constantly Risking Absurdity by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

[LIKE A DIAMOND TRAPPED IN LODE...]
After Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s [CONSTANTLY RISKING ABSURDITY]

Like a diamond trapped in lode
the poem resides
deep within
the mountain of our hearts.

Always mining,
we poets are compelled
to dig them out
lest they erupt:
the grieving
for a mother’s death,
the tasting
of a lover’s breath.

& perpetually we polish them,

until

from raw emotion,
we are left
with nothing
but a gem
we cannot keep,
but feel compelled to give
to the first person
willing & able

to take it

up
&
away.