Writer’s Block

I need a poem, and

I’ve needed one all day long.
I need a poem, and

I’ve looked everywhere for one.

Well, I’ve looked for one in the shower,

once my favorite place.

I’ve looked for one in traffic in the dance

of taillights in the rain.

I need a poem.

All the metaphors that I can conjure up,

just sit there like a lump.

I need a poem, and

I wonder why, some days

it comes so easily. Those days, there’s

a poem in every tree but, today

I need a poem.

I feel like some demented dentist,

pulling every tooth he sees, or

some starving native tipping stones

to find a slug beneath.

I need a poem,

and I don’t think I’ll

find one very soon.

Alix Hellas