Poets
Study the way the light scatters
As it scorches the trees;
The different times of day;
The effect of the seasons on a single branch;
Different depths of green
In a solitary blade of grass;
A dead bird that died flying into a plate of glass
(Thinking foolishly that beyond it,
There was more sky);
Study words, and study how to speak them;
Study what they mean;
Study what they could mean
If another word were chasing it.

Children,
In the lonely times of night,
Have their blankets;
Poets
Have their pens.