Abundance
There are too many words
in the world
too many poems
too many I love yous
whispered into thin air
There are too many speeches
given by too many politicians
too many public officials
too many critical issues
too many proposals
on the table, too many
weather reports
too much weather even
too many plumbers
and far too much
in the way of pipes
and there are certainly too many
different kinds of yogurt
too many brands of refrigerators
too many lawns
and too many people mowing them
oh too many too many too many
but there is only a single
green woodpecker
in the acacia outside my study window
climbing silently up a branch
in search of some single hole
to peck at, some single insect
to devour, oh please, wherever
you are, don’t read this poem
tonight: It has not
a single thing to teach you
you don’t already understand