when a poem takes hold of me

when a poem takes hold of me,
i cannot cork it,
to let it ferment
in those dark cellars
of my being,
until another time,

i have to listen to it,
i have to watch it form and grow,
i have to pause and feel it
take hold of me -
like a lover
i cannot but surrender to
and elope with,
like a squirrel devouring a fruit,
devotion cupped in its tiny paws,
like an eagle
soaring into other worlds,
with its prey-filled talons,
like a magical switch
that turns everything off
in this world,
so I can inhabit another
Wonderland,

when a poem takes hold of me,
i cannot but let it take me
anywhere, everywhere, nowhere,
because that's where
I find me,
that's where I die
and am born,
over and over again.