"See it like a poet" by Charley Barnes

See it like a poet

For National Poetry Day 2020

I wonder whether I am one

yet, poet enough

to see the full mug as more than

porcelain – instead, bulbous

and bodied and bringer of tea.

I wonder whether my vision

extends beyond

the view of a green garden –

instead, sees a landscape

of luxury manmade,

but masquerading as nature.

I wonder whether my foresight

allows a fresh perspective

on life – instead, an empty scroll

or notebook or forest,

and I a woodcutter.

I wonder whether imagination

might makeover

a meal to a banquet

or a vine to a jungle –

instead, make the ordinary

something extravagant,

where we might breathe in meaning.

Although, sometimes I wonder

whether seeing means nothing

more than looking –

and thinking a while.