While we haven’t formally labeled our theme for this month, it’s worth noting the proper term for poems about poetry is “Ars Poetica.” Now not all of my National Poetry Month posts have fit the bill but let’s talk about it anyway… If you want a proper explanation, by all means, Google it, ask a friend, ask the person next to you on the bus. But the nutshell version of an Ars Poetica is a poem that examines the nature of poetry. It’s a poem turning in on itself and asking where it comes from and why it exists. Ars Poeticas have a nice long history because poets being the pensive, introspective people they are usually at some point compelled to write one. Granted, just because everyone writes them means doesn’t mean every one is good so I’ve chosen one of my favorites. The imagery is rich, the content is revealing, and the metaphor might not apply to you poets of love poems and sunshine but it certainly gives you something to think about. Enjoy!
Cockroaches: Ars Poetica
by Chad Davidson
They know that death is merely of the body
not the species, know that their putrid chitin
is always memorable. We call them ugly
with their blackened exoskeletons,
their wall-crawlings as we paw at them.
Extreme adaptability, we say.
And where there’s one there’s probably a million
more who lie and laugh in cracks close by.
At first they seem so pitiful and base
feeding on what we leave behind. Content
to watch us watching them, their hidden grace
is endless procreation: it keeps them constant,
believing they’ll live to read our requiem
with the godlike eyes we used to look at them.
Found at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/17125
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