Poetry Reading

I solemnly swear:
I'll try awfully hard not to bore you.
I won't spit accidentally on those in the first row.
I won't use difficult words like
chthonic or oenomel.
With difficulty, I'll resist the temptation
to pile adjectives in a heap
using my thesaurus as a shovel.
I won't pull out every dirty word I learned from . . .
never mind where. Sorry if that
disappoints you, but I don't thrill
to saying them in public.
And I doubt they'd shock you.
If I read in a monotone, stop me.
And if I become too dramatic,
exercising my eyebrows
till it looks like I'm flagging down aircraft
or too artsy
speakinginahurry
and then dragging out each last
syl
la
ble
please
feel free take a gun to my head.

Just make me some promises, too.
Don't be kind
but don't throw things.
And don't fidget.
If you want to nod sagely
try to do so sincerely.
Above all, please, please don't give me that look.
You know the one:
eyes wide open
brow knotted
lips pursed.
The look that says
I don't get it.

Are we agreed?

--Vance Briceland

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