you cannot find me in the lines of a book
the melody of a song
an image a page on the internet
i can be found in dusty libraries around the world
singing a song
vital and alive
for one who touches me

you scroll past poetry
love music in 45-second toks
dances challenges stupid pet tricks
blended together into pablum
fed to influence your debt problem
forget about wars viruses cancer hiv death
so you can get up in the morning
and do it again

i want to give you a gift
you’ll have to wait here with me for a second
there is nothing to unwrap
the gift is this silence
no bonks or bings
updates or “hey guys, just wanted to tell you…”

i live in this quiet
when you join me here
it’s like a secret garden
a word
a hope
a quest of mine

i am magnified by your attention
a poem
is not much today
not much

everything

connection between humans becomes more rare
dead or alive
my nana visits me any time i ask for her
a poem is like that

what word embodies you
what

word

gives you pleasure

i’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours
let’s go at the same time
one
two

three

>> desire <<

what was your word
are they the same

magicians work by misdirection and tricks
writers work by imagination and whimsy
and most importantly

time

thank you
today

thank you
reader

thank

me

*i am here* < index page

© 2023 – a walt whitman ai poem by human john mcelhenney