How to Read a Poem - Take 2

How to Read a Poem

Break its spine.
Flay it open, down to meat and guts
until it bleeds words,
and they splatter
on the floor of your mind.
Twist muscled meanings and sinewed stanzas.
Hear them cry out in agony or
celebrate in song;
but free them
to dance across synapses;
bare their teeth,
gnash or,
perhaps,
chew over.
Give it voice, intonation, depth
that your voice be heard
over the thudding of the poem’s heart,
such that it reverberates within you
and illuminates
the valleys of your soul.