21st Poet Laureate of USA, Juan Felipe Herrera

Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings

BY JUAN FELIPE HERRERA

for Charles Fishman

Before you go further, 

let me tell you what a poem brings, 

first, you must know the secret, there is no poem 

to speak of, it is a way to attain a life without boundaries, 

yes, it is that easy, a poem, imagine me telling you this, 

instead of going day by day against the razors, well, 

the judgments, all the tick-tock bronze, a leather jacket 

sizing you up, the fashion mall, for example, from 

the outside you think you are being entertained, 

when you enter, things change, you get caught by surprise, 

your mouth goes sour, you get thirsty, your legs grow cold 

standing still in the middle of a storm, a poem, of course, 

is always open for business too, except, as you can see, 

it isn’t exactly business that pulls your spirit into 

the alarming waters, there you can bathe, you can play, 

you can even join in on the gossip—the mist, that is, 

the mist becomes central to your existence.

“Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings” from Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems by Juan Felipe Herrera. Copyright © 2008 Juan Felipe Herrera. Reprinted by permission of the University of Arizona Press. This material is protected from unauthorized downloading and distribution.

Source: Half of the World in Light (The University of Arizona Press, 2008)

Couldn't be more thrilled to hear of Herrera's selection as 21st Poet Laureate! (The photo is from Google images)