Poem: The Poet and the poem

Between the Poet and the poem

Who is telling the story?

Sometimes the Poet’s message

Is drenched in despair

Should we get concerned?

Or should we pray for the poem?

It is a beautiful relationship

Between the Poet and the poem

They are holding each other

Intimately embracing each other

The message is not separable from them

The message is flowing out of the river of the spirit

And the Poet and the poem are both vessels

To carry the message downstream

Into the heart of humanity

Sometimes the poetic spirit wants to bring comfort

To those who are enveloped by the blanket of sorrow

Other times the spirit is comforting the Poet

It is not easy to dislodge the poem from the Poet

This is a bond between lovers or dreamers or seekers

They are forever tied to each other

Always in each other’s lap

The Poet and the poem are branches of the same tree – spirit

They are feeding from the same root

They are standing on the same ground

They are funnelling the same energy

The Poet and the poem are inseparable

But the Poet has to let go of the poem

And let it be planted in other people’s hearts

This is the gift of poetry to humanity

For the Poet to share his/her spirit

With others

©Kenneth Maswabi