Read For the Gist

For the juice, for the words that grab you
and if they don’t—grab them.
But not too frantically. Read
as though you were walking
down Queen Street and curious
look at the stores, the signs, the skirts
and smell the roasted coffee beans.
Let your eye be taken to the things
that matter on the street. And how do we
ever know what matters—we look, we smell,
we take our time, a stroll
and then we come back again.
Read as though you are a wanderer
unrushed and wanting more.

Ronna Bloom, the Poet in Community at the University in Toronto, wrote “Read for the Gist” at the Spontaneous Poetry Booth on September 16, 2009, in response to a request for a poem about reading.  See the Facebook Group “Poet in Community” or poetincommunity(at)utoronto.ca