The Gnome of Amherst

Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem

This gnome, who speaks in gnarled-down code and not

In silk-like lengths in yarn (not knitted like

The lines of others) and in which each knot

She adds is more a hitch that sends a spike

To readers’ hearts, was also baking in

Her family’s kitchen, pastries piquant, more

The tastier, a tiny bit like sin

Because of what she left out, like a shore

Implying depth, a Marianna Trench.

The perls* dropped cause something like a jazz

Thrill in their coding, causing guts’ small wrench,

A syncopated Bourbon Street pizzazz.

  She stayed inside with baking and her lines,

    Cryptography in stitches, verse that shines.

* pronounced as two syllables

~ Phillip Whidden