Ars Poetica

Poetry cannot be created;
it must be found—
discovered in the smile emanating from the old man's eyes
when he pours the water at the local Thai restaurant,
in my friends' laughter after football games—
climbing the fence and navigating the trail
to reach Hope's house,
then talking in the driveway until midnight curfew
sends us all scurrying home.

Poetry lingers, waiting to be noticed
in the clear sky before I leave for school,
in the feel of my dog's tongue when she licks my fingers,
in the ninety-nine cent vanilla milk at the gas station.

But sometimes poetry hides,
wishing it were not in
the inevitable college rejection letter
or the CNN special on genocides—
the one that left me crying on my bed
long after my parents thought I was asleep—
or in the old man's absence
the last few times my family went out to eat.

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Courtney Reed, age 18
2009 Finalist
Lilburn, Georgia
Parkview High School
Teacher: Mary Lynn Huie