Poem From The Heart Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

It should come from inside
otherwise it's a poem
that is cold and bare-
only a skeleton without
flesh and blood to touch.

It should emanate
from the heart, the heart
that circulates blood in the body
making the body whole,
intact and pulsating in life.

It is a poem born out
of the poet's encounter
with life's realities in our time
with light and darkness
triumph and defeat
laughter and tears and
moments to celebrate.