How to eat…no….snack….on a poem

I bumped into a relative of mine in the store yesterday.  She told me how much she’d appreciated the poem I wrote about my niece’s – her cousin’s – death and funeral.  She shared how she had copied and pasted bits of it into special scrapbooks she was making for her sons and she hoped I didn’t mind.  I told her my husband actually had a whole verse he didn’t like and so left it out when he copied and pasted it into a document.

“I wrote it for myself but I’m glad there are parts you like,” I said.

I came home trying to remember Eve Merriam’s, How to Eat a Poem, because I found myself writing my own version.  So here is my eating poetry poem:

It’s Okay to Snack

You don’t have to eat my poem whole,
a bite or two will do.
I know there might be skin or seeds or pit
that slow you down a bit.

So take your time,
let your teeth find just the right spot
to bite,
or nibble,
or lick with your tongue.

You might find you’ll be back
for more snacking
later.