My Brand New Poem! Poem by Denis Martindale

The poem knocked upon my door
And waited patiently...
I made it wait a little more
Before I turned the key...
Where have you been? I asked it straight!
Delaying all this time!
I was ready at half-past-eight
With new thoughts yet to rhyme...

The poem entered then sat down,
I put the kettle on...
It's rare a poem wears a frown
With things to dwell upon...
O.K., what's up? There's something wrong!
You poems mostly smile...
Find courage, friend, then you'll be strong,
Don't worry, rest a while...

The poem laid down, drank some tea,
Explaining its delay...
From bad spell checkers had to flee
And come another way...
Bad grammar checkers tried to change
The words that must be penned...
Of course, I found that very strange,
But that was not the end...

Another poem came to fight,
Accusing it of theft!
When proved it was a brand new write,
That poem sighed and left...
And finally, of course, the rain
That England knows too well...
The poem really felt the strain,
Like one who'd been through Hell...

There, there... I said... You rest yourself...
I've one more cake to spare...
You must, relax, restore your health,
You poems must take care...
The poem ate that final cake,
Then it went off to sleep...
And so I let it take a break,
To breathe there, long and deep...

When it woke up, it felt revived,
A smile upon its face
And thankful that it had arrived
And found a peaceful place...
So I wrote down each word it gave,
Each insight it revealed,
Each journey that its truths could pave
For hearts as yet unhealed...

Then it stood up and shook my hand
To leave my home that day,
So glad I chose to understand
Its reasons for delay...
I never knew how hard it was
For poems now and then,
But now I know and all because
Of kindness once again...


Denis Martindale, copyright, January 2014.