whatever you write
make it anything but
insignificant scratch or
a tiny bruise or words
that merely chafe
the soul of a reader
a poem should ooze something
if pricked by a beautiful moment
stabbed where it hurts the most
delivered from the birth of insight
to maybe slaying nightmares
or colonizing a hopeful future
being brutally honest
or shamelessly naked
even cowardice
exposed to the bone
can be closed with some lyrical thread
and forgiveness in the next-to-last stanza
leaving one final chance
for courage to charge
out of hiding
with a roar