The Poems I Like Best

The Poems I Like Best

The poems I like best
wear classic black
with vintage accessories
and smell like a new book,
the spine just cracked.

The chitchat overheard on a city bus
or nonsense
volleyed between toddlers
on swings at the park.

My favorite poems
squeeze your hand
on a crowded street and say:
Look.

The poems I like best
wear blue jeans
and smell
like the tack room of a barn:
worn leather and horse.

The varied verses
of a mockingbird's tune
or syllables between brothers
scratching scruffy chins
under the hood of a truck.

My favorite poems
hold a wooden spoon of words
and whisper:
Taste.

~Tracie Vaughn Zimmer