A Papercut Mary Oliver Left me With

whitetea (2006)

Weber State University

Reaching too fast
extending hands
not prepared
for a magnetic hold

with a curious grasp.
My finger caught
the crook of the page
which slivered open
a red streak
across my forefinger;
a dark stripe
with perfect clarity.

I hope that every poem
cuts into me this way.
Piercing the thick surface
of previous understanding
and diving straight in
with unremoved scars
as if to say
I still have so much
to come to learn and
so much yet to keep.