Speak Plainly, They Say

Today I listened to professors
Say what professors say
About poetry.

“There must be an access,”
One declared.
“Write in sentences,”
Said another.

My poems are in English!
Isn’t that access enough?
Perhaps we look too much
For poetry to communicate.

Perhaps we are used to being
Spoon-fed our art.
Isn’t there room to think,
To ponder, to consider,

To analyze?
If a psychologist can interpret
A reading of something as abstract
As a Rorschach,

Can’t readers come up
With something
From difficult poems?
Do we have to speak plainly?

What is the fun in that?
How about a challenge?
How about solving a riddle?
How about mystery?

Perhaps one day
People will read poems
In order to understand
Another person,

Instead of always
Expecting a mirror
Into which they can gaze
At their own reflection.