MAG 208: Poet's Sleep

Poet's Sleep, 1989, Chang Houg Ahn

And day, nights it's all the same. 

The head falls still on a book or pillow-

the light or dark is turned inside out 

no longer having dominion-   

time is translucent and meaningless

here as images connect sentences

and bring story past or future into

a slice of originality-

the collision of mater,

the combustion of energy,

the flight of notion,

the confabulatory narrative;

which every poet knows to value

above the hype we wrap

in conclusion of reality.

From the red crinkled birthing center

one after one childlike thoughts slide 

out of the head and if the waking poet 

is quick to his pen, he may catch a few

and those that are not lost forever

become fodder for readers. 

Michael Allyn Wells

Mag 208