Happy National Poetry Day!

This is not:

a Grand Statement
a manifesto
a declaration of intent
a description of a universal condition
an assertion of guilt or innocence
a bulletin, note, or memo
a distracted doodle drawn
   while waiting for something to happen
a stray thought in between other stray thoughts
a momentary impulse
a twitch, tic, or itch

This is:

a reflection
an observation
a snapshot of a moment
a sketch of the artist in thoughtful repose
a portrait of the artist in deep distress
a naked picture of emotion masked by words
an occasional truth
a permanent (ill/del)usion
a marker left to help find the way back
a slab laid to enable the next step

This is a poem

(28 September 2017)