Tuesday Poem - Chop! - by Steve Smart

Chop!

This is an axe

I’m not going to hurt you

just need to chop some wood

it’s cold out tonight

This is a fire

Small, slow burning

stop poking at it

it’ll burn all by itself

This is a chimney

The fire is going now

but there’s too much smoke

the room is filling up, choking

This is a bucket

The fire is spreading out of control

must find water

before skin begins to melt

This is relief

Not too cold, not too hot

the porridge is cooking nicely

come inside, get warm –

stop apologising

every time you don’t save the world

This poem is a hint

of things to come

Steve Smart is yet another Melbourne poet – we have such a lot of poets in Melbourne- (lucky us) – and I think it would be fair to describe him as a 'performance poet'. Not that there is anything wrong with that, to quote Seinfeld. I heard him read this poem in last year's final of Poetry Idol at Federation Square and liked it loads. Steve is a mover and a shaker and an instigator and a begetter, the Overload Festival is a brain child of his – with a little bit of help from his friends. To quote the Beatles. These days he is one of the conveners of the long-running Dan poetry readings, and he tours, he paints nails, he writes poetry, he slams, he is a true believer.