Hope

“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” – Emily Dickinson

The day I unscrewed the top of my head
all the poems flew out
like fireflies from a jar
like exploding party streamers
pink and yellow sherbert poppers
fizzing and kicking
(did I hear a tiny shriek of glee?)

And by the time my lid
had stopped rattling on the floor
they were all gone:
all but this one.