The Occasion for Poetry / by Brian Kunde

The Occasion for Poetry
by Brian Kunde

The occasion for poetry

can be any time,
and its topic anything
that strikes your mind
with the slightest hint
of a thing beneath
the surface—a touch
just outside the ordinary—
or that shows you
new or different angles
on something thought familiar.

Nothing is just itself.
Nothing cannot stand in
for some other idea,
or invite a fresh
glance at old ones,
on itself, or even,
perhaps, some other thing—
some other thing entirely!
Any concept one imagines
holds myriads of others!

This is not about
what it’s seen as,
nor does it deal
with what you suspect;
the moment is not
the instant I invoked,
and the subject not
what you deemed it—
no, not at all!
—and yet, it’s still

the occasion for poetry.

* * * * *

The Occasion for Poetry

from Mortal Verses : Occasions for Poetry, 1st ed., Aug. 2026.

1st web edition posted 8/29/2026.