A poem for a friend

A friend of mine at the Vancouver Poetry Slam inspired this poem by telling me that individual world championship slam competitors have not only 3 minute competitions, but also 2 minute and one minute slams. I decided to try to make a 1 minute poem and to make it for my friend.

a one-minute poem about your birthday (there will be a parade)

i hope you believe me when I tell you, there will be a parade
with hockey players from canada and fiji
the grand marshall will be a guy with a squeegee
theodor geisel will lead the marching band

there’ll be every poet, living and dead, who you have ever heard or read
ready to answer your questions and to ask you some, too
get down to the street to see bears and elephants giraffes and tigers
freely there of their own volition for interpretive dancing at intermission

tuxedos, gowns, kilts and tattoos, fig leaves, lava lavas, and hair of peacock hues
what fun
tom thompson will paint an art car for you to ride in with your mum
and you, you will make it up as you go along, black sabbath will play your favourite song
elementary school choirs will carry the tune
the book club, the dance club, the legion, the orchid club, the pomeranian club, the ukrainian club…they’ll all trade hats and dance the hokey pokey down the avenue

we’ll toss roses, we’ll peel grapes, we’ll blow bubbles, we’ll play the kazoo
mostly for ourselves, but with a nod to you
it’s true

you are the conductor, the world’s your ragtag band
write the story, tell the ending, watch the beginning and the middle create themselves
whatever you want, once you know what it is
it’s always easier than you think

for my friend, The Svelte Ms Spelt
November 2005

question: have you got a minute?

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