the age of poetry

emerson said
poetry begins
when we live
from the center outward

an explosion
which begs the question

How old is poetry?

poetry is as old as
the first trillionth of a second

it is older than the rings of saturn

poetry was there
the moment william shakespeare
learned to write his name

it was the first ivory key
beethoven ever touched
with his chubby baby finger

poetry was present
when da vinci
married mona lisa off
to the renaissance man

it existed within the wooden paint brush
van gogh dipped into the color blue

it is being made dizzy by gillespie
one night in tunisia

poetry is the inch between true love’s kiss

it lives in the shadows creeping across
humphrey bogart’s face

poetry is a bird silently in flight

it is the light in your child’s eyes

poetry is accepting

life is like being at a great party
and nobody knows who threw it