! The Poetry Student Poem by Michael Shepherd

Wonder
is a philosopher
is a poet
looks with awe
upon all things
sees one in many
praises one,
delights in many
loves
reasons
wonder is a poet

Barely a year ago now
what was he?
an adult student whom I scarcely knew,
self-contained (and what
an epithet that is…) ,
a human being with a warmth,
a keen mind for profounder things, but
not burdened with over-education,
still an innocent guarding wonder with a hidden strength;
who turned up one day
for the occasional poetry session

not much to start with
but he kept at it

and then it seems that the Muse,
so much wiser than poetry teachers,
casting around for messengers
as she must, to tell her glory to the world,
decided that he just might fit the bill

and now he’s hers. Love,
and the knowledge of love
pour unpretentiously from him, with
a depth of insight expressed with simple clarity;
the choice of words seems to come from purest instinct;
beauty, goodness, truth flow through him unimpeded

very soon he’ll wonder just who wrote these poems;
the answer, as the Muse must know
is in the wonder. Yes, she chose right.