Oh Please, Let’s Get This Right Always Poem by Raj Arumugam

oh, please
let’s get this right always:
the persona is not the poet;
the ‘I’ – yes, the first person -
is not always
the writer


you see
(have you not seen already?)
the poet is like an actor
and creeps up into the flesh
of a character
and speaks in the voice of the persona
so that if the poet pretends to be a donkey
you should not join him in braying at the moon;
if the poet sings:
‘see I am a fish
see how I glide
in water
like a ballerina on stage’ –
by Jove, you should not ready yourself
with your fishing rod;
if the poet pretends to be a convict
you should not have to alert Interpol;
if the poet talks about how his wife knocked him over
and his mother died the next day
and the poet’s brother slept with his wife
really,
there’s no need for condolences
or outrage or commiseration;
if the poet pretends in one verse to be a woman
and is a man in the next –
really, you need not suspect
the poet cross dresses
or has a problem with sexual identity;
and if the poet says
‘see I’m a rabbit
rabbit, rabbit;
hop, hop, hop with me
I’m a rabbit’ –
really, you needn’t take it too seriously
and ready your bowl and spices for rabbit stew
or take out your cameras for Playboy pictures;
though, if I should ever pretend to be Obama
well, you could pretend to be the President of your country
and give me a Presidential welcome:
that way we’ll both play the persona game


you see
(have you not noticed?)
the first stage
in a poet’s life
is talking about oneself
(some
like damaged mortals
are stuck in that
all their lives):
and then comes often
when the poet steps into the shoes of other people and other lives…
the poet may pretend to be someone or something else…
for if verse does not move the one
into the many
what use is poetry?


so - oh, please
let’s get this right always:
'I' is not always the poet
and the poet not always the 'I'…