City of West Hollywood California 1984
How to Shop for a Poet Before shopping, ask yourself, what kind of poet am I looking for? Perhaps you want a clairvoyant amnesiac poet who’ll recite your future then forget your name, or a handy poet, who’ll mend the holes you’ve punched into your walls, boss you around in couplets: where’s the glitter, where’s the chickens, don’t touch the stew until it thickens. You can find an assortment of poets in the stationery and picture frame aisle though you might also try intimate apparel. Pack a snack in your pocket, so you can feed your new poet on the way home. Keep in mind poets like covered snacks which they can unwrap slowly, on their own. Be sure to examine your poet carefully. Pry her mouth open, look down her throat for what she’s about to say: her job is to tell the truth for as long as she can, only to crack like a jar of pennies, roll off the counter, spill across your floor, her sobs echoing, people wondering why did he bring that poet home, what was he thinking? Prepare a proper spot for your poet: desk and chair hanging from the ceiling, open window so she can dip her toes into the air, trampoline below. Before shopping ask yourself why you want a poet at all? Is it the comfort of rhyme you’re after, or is it free verse you crave: a warrior-poet who’ll asphyxiate you with words, teach you to savor the shadow that haunts you, explain why thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky, or why the elephant in the tree searches for his nest? You want a poet who’ll confess, press you into consciousness, feed you purple grapes from her stained silk glove, help you to hear the silence of your song, leave you saturated with meaning, already aching for more. -West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Kim Dower
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD OUR POETIC GIFT TO YOU….