Lilacs Out of the Dead Land

Poetry is the most self-conscious art form.
Nobody can forget about the line breaks.
Can poetry keep you warm

and save you from harm,
in spite of all the pretentious pricks?
Poetry is the most self-conscious art form,

but can poetry be about self-harm
or the lonely soul that the world forsakes?
Poetry must keep you warm,

feeding a little life with dried tubers
(whatever “dried tubers” may be).
Poetry is the most self-conscious art form:

there’s the self themselves immersed in their labors,
worried, but feeling creative and free—
warmed and calmed

by the peaceful hum
of self-consciousness itself.
Poetry is the most self-conscious art form.
Poetry keeps you warm.