The Words I Wrote in the Margins of My Poetry Notebook

Notes, observations, discussions, thoughts of the class on the Greats

Eliot, Moore, Stevens, Yeats.

In the boundaries of red lines and blue lines,

Academic confines.

Outside the red lines, almost falling off the edge

Are gray lines of pencil forming some kind of pledge.

A poetic line, first in pencil written

Then typed and distributed for the world to be smitten

For the world to explore, critique, assign meaning

Create meanings demeaning

Typed lines translated to pencil again

A line that speaks like a proclaimed amen

This inspired fragment takes its new place

Between academic remarks and the edge of the page.