Peter Davis

DRIP DRIP by Mel Kadel

POEM ADDRESSING SOME OF THE IDEAS THAT I THINK SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHEN READING AND EVALUATING THIS POEM

I would like to make you more aware of yourself as a human, and thus, ultimately a better person.

I would like you to think that I’m really smart, really impressive as a person, very worthy of attention.

I would like you to be impressed with my understanding of the world.

I would like you to think that I am creative, unique, and underappreciated.

I would like to read more about myself in the popular media.

POEM ADDRESSING MY CONTEMPORARIES WHO I AM UNAWARE OF

I like making friends but I’m not very good at it. I could improve on that aspect of my life. This is an awkward gesture, but I hope you’ll accept it.

POEM ADDRESSING MY PAST, CURRENT AND FUTURE STUDENTS WHO ARE SUFFICIENTLY INTERESTED IN OUR CLASS ENOUGH TO CHECK OUT MY WORK

I hope you learn something from this poem and the powerful, mystical way it concludes!

POEM ADDRESSING A FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF THE ARTIST

self

is

hness

POEM ADDRESSING THE POSSIBILITY THAT I AM VOCALIZING THESE WORDS IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE

I hope you’ll consider the very strong possibility that I have traveled to meet you here and thus you should probably buy the book this poem is in, or whatever else I might have for sale, just as a gesture of your support of the arts, in general, and, specifically, the art of poetry and the poets, like myself, who try to pull it off. I probably need the money and I have probably made a great deal of effort to write this poem and then show up here and read it to you. It’s possible I haven’t traveled to read this poem to you. In that case, you should buy a book from me because you probably know me and, thus, should feel obligated for weird reasons, or for reasons that aren’t weird. If we’re not in a poetry reading right now, and you’re just reading this on your own, I hope you’ll forgive all of this space devoted to the poetry reading situation. While I want to be vocalizing this, for the people listening, I still want to be writing this, for the people reading.

POEM ADDRESSING PEOPLE WHO ARE WAITING SOMEWHERE FOR SOMETHING AND SO ARE READING THIS POEM JUST TO KILL THE TIME

It’s cool that you have a cool poem like this to read in a pinch! This should help pass the time for the next few moments and you can read this again if you still have time to when it’s over. Also you can probably view whatever else is in the publication you are holding in your hands. Of course you might not be reading this poem as a piece in a bound publication. These are the ways I imagine you might be reading this: in a book, in a magazine/journal, on your computer, on a single sheet of paper (broadside maybe?). It does occur to me that you might be waiting in a public place that is a notorious public space in which waiting occurs—like a doctor’s office, a bank, some kind of government building, an airport, a subway station, etc. In that case, it is possible that whoever manages this space has considered writing this poem on the wall, or printing it on a banner or something, just to entertain you. Someone cool, somewhere down the line, said to someone else who was cool, “Hey there’s this great poem I know about that would be great to put in the waiting room.” This seems unlikely for reasons that are very obvious. A simple logistical problem would be the length of this poem. Even though you’re only this far in you can probably tell, just by glancing at the text, that this poem continues quite past this sentence. Of course, that problem could be solved if this poem were running on some kind of digital scroll, like stock prices across Times Square or the ticker tape at the bottom of a television news channel. So anyway, there are ways that this could be accomplished if people really devoted some thought and time to it. Anyway, I hope this is helping you and that whatever you’re waiting for is no big deal. I mean, I hope you’re just cashing your paycheck or something and not waiting to hear whether you have cancer or not. And, if that’s what you’re doing now (or something else that’s awful, like waiting for a verdict in a case, or on a wayward friend)—anyway, I wish you luck. I hope all will be well for you. I think the odds that you’re reading this while waiting for something extremely awful and serious are pretty slim. Not many people read poetry when they’re nervous. And, when they do, they rarely get anything out of it. Since you’re this far into the poem, you must be getting something out of it. And though I’m just trying to kill some time with you, I still want this poem to be something that you can get something out of. So, concentrate. Really think about this poem. You don’t want to be thinking about the clock. Think about this poem and the time will just fly by.

POEM ADDRESSING PEOPLE WHO HAVE INVITED ME TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR READING SERIES

That’s great. I like to do that type of thing. It’s a very good feeling for me to be wanted and listened to. Of course, I’d love it if you financially compensated me in some way, but really, I consider the boost to my ego compensation enough. Thanks for your efforts and including me.

Peter Davis’ books of poetry are Hitler’s Mustache(2007) and Poetry! Poetry! Poetry! which is forthcoming. He edited Poet’s Bookshelf: Contemporary Poets on Books that Shaped Their Art. His recent poems have appeared in journals like Double Room, Spooky Boyfriend, Sixth Finch, Fou, and No Tell Motel. You can check out his other work, including his music project, Short Hand, at his website: Artisnecessary.com .