Is that robin's-egg blue?, or A Poet Answers Her Critics

—Some want a guiding principle, narrative pick-me-up.

I give them root beer barrels and butterscotchs, say "suck."

A tangent is a mathematical loveliness.

Perhaps you're familiar?

Sister What-Was-Her-Name drew the most elegant trapezoids.

Who wouldn't want to do some time?

On the blueprints, a door means figure it out; a window, just looking.

I always open every cupboard, admire a narrow linen closet.

In the 1930's an actress could live at a hotel with her small dog.

I'm longing for something beaded.

I'm thinking in the next life I might appear handmade.

Copyright © 2008 Mary Ann Samyn All rights reserved
from Columbia Poetry Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission