This Could Be

by Andrew Dufresne
Wild Poetry Forum
First Place, July 2012
Judged by Troy Jollimore


Is this a poem? I hate some people.
Or do I? Do I hate some people?
Is this correct? If so, please explain.
Show your work. You have minutes.

Under a rotten log, a salamander.
Did I see it? Was it alive? I think
I did. I did not hate it. Was it a poem?
Discuss. The room is leaving you.

Back to our previous question:
Do I hate some poems? Is there
a waterfall I have not gone over?
May I ask forgiveness? And why.

I came to the meadow to graze.
The sky was peppered with blue.
I worry if my body changes in any
way. No one notices my eyes.

Time’s up. I am never married.
I send a post card to birth, write
this poem on it. The canal is lovely,
the boatman sings to me. Go.


I liked the engaging energy of this poem: the way the opening question grabs the reader’s attention, the way it plays with the idea of persona and invites a kind of audience participation. It has a reckless headlong zigzag enthusiasm that hurtles you to the end before you can even stop to question it—before you know it you’ve been taken for a ride, and it’s a ride you’ll want to take again. --Troy Jollimore