poetry, says the professor, is always a conversation
always
as with most conversations, it is often
and predominantly
one-sided

what you must decide, as a poet – should
you decide to join the honored, infamous ranks –
is how much and what end of the conversation
you write and in what or whose voice . . .
and with whom is the conversation?
the muse? some ghost or another?
specific poet? or the canon in general?
zeitgeist? or the general audience?
for myself, speaking from the studious perspective,
I prefer conversations with the canon
or the zeitgeist,
as I find them the deepest and most . . .

But, professor, I think they are not
as you suggest
so deep as the solitude
whence we study
and pore over them.

dm pitchford 12/24/23