The World’s Fair of Poetry - April 5, 2023

someday I’d like to have a booth there

if it’s one of my stranger displays

you’ll probably read praise

in my words encouragement

that it’s safe to be different

if it’s a more “normal” exhibition

you’ll find it harder tougher

almost ruthless in carving

out the deeper story

because any blue-ribbon poem

must show something unexpected

take the reader behind the curtain

reveal a face never seen

better that it ends with

tattoos and brow piercings

clutching an odd silent look

than a buttoned-down smile

plastered on an overused mask

those poems would never

get nominated anyway

at least not until the poet decides

to bump into them really hard

and get the disguise to slip

or just rip it off

to see if there’s any

interesting truth

lurking in there