Poetry Is Useless

When the alarm clock rings, strident, brutal
you should move your body and your courage out of bed to the shower,
to the tasteless coffee, to the garage, to the road, to the boring office
Poetry is useless . . .

When you clear snow from your doorstep,
when someone ignores your right of way,
when someone scratches your car,
when you spill your coffee, when you forget, when you miss,
when meetings run, when deadlines fall, when you forget to take home
bread and children
Is poetry useless?

When those absent leave our memories,
cleaned from pictures, deleted by distances, weather and worries
When their faces become blurry,
vague, pale or imprecise
Is poetry useful?

When TV screams out, of the world infamies, wars, death, dictatorships,
fears, hunger, hatred, despair, fury, horror, sorrow and tortures

Poetry is useful
When the alarm clock rings, whistling, jovial
and you know you are alive, present, standing-up
in your living space full of people, sounds and memories
Poetry helps

To enjoy your coffee, not to care
about deadlines, mediocrities and other requirements
It surrounds you when you laugh, when you cry, when you come

Poetry is an org*sm!