AIPF Was A Blast

I attended Austin International Poetry Festival, April 9-12. My poem, In Case of Emergency, Read Poem, was selected for the AIPF Anthology. I will append it to the end of this post. Marilyn Komechak, PhD, and I presented our workshop, How To Find Your Poetic Mind, to an enthusiastic group of poets. I met, talked with, and read with a wide variety of wonderful poets. The whole experience was very energizing. I even sold a few books. Here’s my poem from the Anthology:

 

In Case Of Emergency, Read Poem

That’s what was written on the old man’s scrawny chest

when I ripped open his shirt to give him CPR.

I read it several times as I did the useless chest compressions.

The message read:

“Thank you, friend, for your concern.

May your kindness here much kindness earn.

This body’s not mine, it’s just a loaner;

My whole life long I’ve sought its owner.

Now that I’ve left its tenancy,

perhaps its owner will find me.

I’ve tried to love all fellow beings,

to know all knowing, to see all seeing,

to move the world with truth and beauty.

I failed, of course, in that great duty.

But trying, always, is the thing,

the world and we, perfectioning.

Now kindly pass along this poem,

and let your body be its home.”

End note: written from a tattoo parlor.

Michael Baldwin