Notes for a job description

I started writing poems that were terrible

Sky above Clouds IV, Georgia O’Keeffe (1965)

Notes for a job description

by Bob Hicok

When I was eleven 
I watched a balloon escape 
a kid’s hand and wondered 
if I could do that 
for a living if I 
grew up. Eventually 
the question was answered 
when I started writing poems 
that were terrible 
in the end but elated me 
in their rising and floating 
away from my fingers 
and blood, each one, 
in their becoming, 
a shouted or whispered 
set of instructions 
for how to pronounce 
that most complicated word, 
yes.