Editor’s note: In observance of Poetry Month we invited poet Sam Ferrante to share a poem with us.
How to Write a Poem
First, every poem is a love poem. You must start
with yourself. By which I mean imagine you,
but with tiny, sticky hands, your small nose pointed
at your own grown-up knees, blueberry jam lifted
skyward, and little you demanding (you can tell
by the stomping of a tiny foot). That’s your poem: big
you reaching down to get in there, below the armpits, and lift.
Track your bright eyes: the way they follow the fish, that one,
like pieces of mango glued together. Each word a movement
towards: a way forward: bitty breaths puffing against the tank
glass, the things that could eat you. Break the line one cheek
at a time: a big thumb swooped beneath each onion skin eyelid.
Say it as you work: gentle, gentle, you wouldn’t want to hurt
her, would you? And when she points, screeching, fish! Listen.
About the poet
Sam Ferrante is a queer poet, teacher and busybody who received her MFA in creative writing from Butler University and now serves as the Butler MFA community workshop director. Her manuscript, “No More Odes to My Mouth,” won the 2020 First-Book Scholarship from Gasher Journal. Sam also hosts Real Life, Revised, a reading series and open mic, on the second Sunday of each month at Indiana Humanities.
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