One Phrase

Call me a Poet,

but I’m just a writer

these words that I breathe

respoken much later 

Call me a Poet,

my couplets in rhyme

each stanza to shorten

with meaning sublime

Call me a Poet,

my retinue sounder

to live by the moment

my squares getting rounder

Call me a Poet,

I’ll call you the same

if one phrase you’ll tender

—attached to your name

(The New Room: March, 2022)