A violinist can
look at an Amati
or a Guarnieri
and hear a concerto.

A birder hears
the call of the songbird
and can describe
the beauty of her plumage.

A skilled photographer
looks through the viewfinder
and tells a complete story
with one press of the shutter button.

But it is the poet
alone, staring at a blank page,
who spills onto it joy and sadness,
tears and elation, and his blood.