- Worms in Palermo
visual poetry, concrete poetry
Language
falls around me
like apples from a music tree
tasting like gravity I bite a word
with a worm in it: the worm stands for
insecurity But what does insecurity stand
for? Some days I think I’ll stand for anything: I'm such a worm.
A noun plops on my head like a Granny Smith
A verb zings through the air: right between
the eyes! Though it zaps me down
to size I don’t lie down alone
but with my friends i vermi
grace notes to the
bone
Peter Meinke (Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg, 2009-15) is now Poet Laureate of Florida. He’s had over 20 books published, including eight in the Pitt Poetry Series, most recently Lucky Bones (2014). The University of Tampa has published five of his books, including a guide to writing poems, The Shape of Poetry (2012); a collection of his Poet’s Notebook essays, Truth & Affection (2013); and a children’s book, The Elf Poem (2015)—all illustrated by his wife, the artist Jeanne Meinke.