On The Tip Of My Tongue Poem by Heidi K. Haskell

Oh, I could spend an hour and a day and a night
Trying to find the accurate (no – proper,
No – correct, no- perfect, no – right)
Word to use. I want a show-stopper,
A glorious word that’s perfect in every way,
So everyone will understand exactly what I meant.
But no matter what I say,
The word has a mind of its own, and my thought gets bent.
I’m a new kind of Cassandra – for when I speak
I’m misinterpreted rather than disbelieved. How I hate that!
Because I try so hard – it could take me half a week
To find a word you’ll read in milliseconds flat
And think means “I’ve finished” – when it’s really “Let’s begin.” It
Leaves me paranoid that no one could ever understand my brain.
For I write my theme, my thought in just a minute,
And spend six pages trying to explain.
Or I forget all the rhymes I planned for later
Trying to rack my brain for rhyming these two lines,
Squeezing in bizarre things like “alligator
Sunning itself beneath the swinging vines.”
And I worry – I do - that someone will analyze
This one day and try to find deep profound
Meaning in the alligator, and what it might symbolize,
When all I needed was the sound.
Yes, a poem’s alive, and the second I set it free, it takes on a life of its own,
Seldom choosing the path I’d have it choose.
I only hope I like it when it’s grown.
(Now what’s that word I wanted to use?)