How to Read a Poem

You are an animal,
so act like it.

Feel the sun
burning its way

through you like music
you will never

understand. Rain
sounds like sand

beneath your feet.
Your tail,

where did it go?
You will give

birth to each
green day

and crouch
motionless on foliage.

The smell of new
soil. Dark and wet.

Lick your teeth.
Swallow.

It tastes
like the world,

doesn’t it?

Von Wise received his MFA for Creative Writing from Florida International University. He teaches English composition and creative writing in Philadelphia, where he lives. His most recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Lucky Jefferson, Inverted Syntax, Fatal Flaw, Islandia Journal, Red Ogre Review, Lost Pilots, and Kitchen Table Quarterly among others.