Yarn Barf: Day 3

I am not a musician I am a poet

See it has something to do with the kinds of folks
I'd grab a drink with

I asked a flautist about perfection

He said something about perfect pitch and expert technique

The bar is made of barbed wire and the maestro said jump

He tunes to A440 and says how high?

I asked a writer about perfection

And he took my hand

To say something about forgiving

and the way dandelion wine warms your belly

He said I will see you again and if not

I will see you in the sunrise

And I guess what I am trying to say

Is I want to take someone's hand

With human and forgiving words

I want to unravel the black yarn in their gut

With my imperfect fingers

And grip them in a way that makes them

want to confess

Prompt: "The American poet Frank O’Hara was an art critic and friend to numerous painters and poets In New York City in the 1950s and 60s. His poems feature a breezy, funny, conversational style. His poem “Why I Am Not a Painter” is pretty characteristic, with actual dialogue and a playfully offhand tone. Following O’Hara, today we challenge you to write a poem that obliquely explains why you are a poet and not some other kind of artist – or, if you think of yourself as more of a musician or painter (or school bus driver or scuba diver or expert on medieval Maltese banking) – explain why you are that and not something else!"