Lines

Draw a line. Write a line. There.
Stay in line, hold the line, a glance
between the lines is fine but don't
turn corners, cross, cut in, go over
or out, between two points of no
return's a line of flight, between
two points of view's a line of vision.
But a line of thought is rarely
straight, an open line's no party
line, however fine your point.
A line of fire communicates, but drop
your weapons and drop your line,
consider the shortest distance from x
to y, let x be me, let y be you.

-Martha Collins

i looted this shamelessly from rae's blog. muahaha. this poem sounds like it would make really great slam poetry. try to imagine someone performing this-- not some dull shakespearean reading, but a fast, aggressive, almost rap-like performance, with a beat so strong that you can almost hear it resonate in the air. i've only witness a poetry slam once, at the breadloaf writers' conference in vermont junior year, but it was absolutely incredible.