ON LANGUAGE

Poet,
Reach down deep inside yourself.
Discover what you need to write.
Unearth it.
Carve out only the essential
(nothing extraneous will do) –
only the rawest, most crucial words
that language has to offer.
Take
what seems to be yours to take.
Let it penetrate the pages.
If blood-stained mineral her content,
then you have tasted well.


Poem and image by Sarah Rehfeldt. Please do not copy without my permission.

Published in The Whirlwind Review, issue 1 (2011).
Reprinted in Allegro Poetry Magazine, issue 9 (June, 2016).