Meaning on the Loose

 Meaning on the Loose

Meaning has slipped its leash again—
metaphors never knock;
they tumble, laughing, from the roof
and leave the garden shocked.

They’re trolls with fairy wings,
with pollen on each shoe,
who leave the poets wondering,
“What did those creatures do?”

Once loose, they follow poets’ home
and scribble on the walls;

 

We watch the sunset spill its gold,
then cheer a friend at night:
“That scope is just a spelunker
with a helmet full of light.”

Then we mend the economy
while politicians graze;
we button jokes in wisdom’s coat
and lose them in the haze.

By now the metaphors have roamed
from garden beds to news,
with sunset gold upon their wings
and headlines on their shoes.

So if the meaning slips its leash,
just smile and let it rain;
the metaphor will shake its wings
upon your roof again.