Poet Jeffery Beam
Poems

I Have Never Wanted

I have never wanted to
                                                write
        the perfect poem, only
the im
        perfect, as the human is
as the stone
                        underfoot's not
        perfect
                        but perfected by its being
stone:
        the poem
                                        perfected
by its being
                        and me being
        human
                                        also that.

I have always wanted the
                                                under
        side of things, the side
shaded
        by moss, the coolness under
the walkway
                        stone, the silver and
        spotted
                        backside of the Elaeagnus
leaf.
        I have
                                        always
wanted the elegance
                        of the unseen
        when the
                                        light

first comes through and the shine
                                                                was
        (is) there all the time
wanted:

        I have
                        always wanted

the poem
                                                perfected.