i.
                  in my little arty journal, i compiled
           a list of observations
              on how to be a poet
                           (through the eyes of
                           an alien lifeform):

     drink tea
      don't sleep
         stare at walls, holding pens
                    sit in rain
             look into your reflection
    invest heavily in doomed relationships
           overthink
        when necessary, feel confident writing on any available surface
        (ex: scrap paper, movie ticket, napkin, desk, self, friend, passing car,
        small-to-medium sized furry mammals)
                  watch people
               watch people always
                   always watch people
             people-watch always
                        way al atc weo pple
                      romanticize the mundane
    despite on-paper eloquence, constantly trip over your tongue when it really counts
            have a rocky relationship with capital letters

                            (sadly, all of the lists in
                            that book are the same awful level
                            of irritatingly self-serving.)



ii.
              yet another habit
              which i blame on my
              self-prescribed oral fixation
       is my tendency to describe words using
       food terms:

                     i devour books,

                 i go on poem-reading binges

                          (and then stick my finger down my throat
                        to try and gag up something
                                 beautiful all of my own),

              i get hunger pains
                 if i go too long between novels,
                    

                       the best works, i read out loud
                       just to have their delicious poetry
                       in my mouth.

                   i savour the thickness of every consonant and vowel
                   and delight in the utter sensuality of
                                       the feel of someone else's words
                                       lingering on my tongue.


iii.
            i always find myself
            smiling at least a
            little bit whenever
            something hurts, because
            i know i'll be
            writing that night.

            i keep writing poems
            about having writers'
            block, and i'm not sure
            whether that's funny or
            just frustrating.


            the hardest thing
            about being a poet
            is the struggle to
            express blood-curdling
            screams in words.