Four Word Poems Poem by Robert Ronnow

You'll soon lose interest in walking
and talking and wearing the cap
of a fool. You'll.
            Words: walk, talk, wear, cap, fool, you, soon,
            lose.

Four word poems, ten
syllables per line, six
lines per paragraph. Graph.
            Words: word, poem, syllable, line, paragraph,
            per, graph.

The night I wrecked my father's car
necking with my date after the dance
inching forward into traffic
foot tapping the brake like an erection.
            Words: night, car, father, wreck, date, dance,
            neck, traffic, inch, foot, tap, brake.

The USFS issued paper sleeping bags
like tissues during forest fires and fed us
steak and pop. All you could eat.
            Words: paper, bag, sleep, tissue, fire, steak,
            pop, eat, food, forest, us.

Things hurt. Pain is a message
to shut up and slow down.
Breathe deep, take care. Wait and see.
            Words: hurt, pain, shut, slow, breathe, care,
            wait, see, deep, message.

Just as the war
in the Iliad goes back
and forth according to Hector's
fortunes, so does marriage and a truck in mud.
            Words: just, war, back, forth, fortune, marriage,
            truck, mud.

Fear destroys the last free assessment of life.
But what is there to fear. Death
is most of all like sleep. Death
is but a dream missed.
            Words: fear, free, assess, destroy, life, death,
            sleep, dream, like, but, miss.



- title from a poem by Maxine Hong Kingston