T. Clear ROGUE
This poem will never be urgent.
It won't be important.
or have capabilities.
It won't inform.
Will never say tongue.
This poem eats meat every day,
drinks Bud lite, chews gum.
Enjoys a Lucky Strike
after meals, doesn't floss.
Doesn't answer your pings.
This poem stays up too late.
This poem needs to be revised.
This poem doesn't care.
This poem won't try to publish itself,
will be forgotten.
Seattle poet T. Clear has published her work in many magazines and anthologies, and is seeking a publisher for her book-length manuscript, A House, Undone. Her poem “Rogue” is a response to the unnecessary proliferation of the word “tongue” in contemporary poetry.