A Poem on Poetry by Amado Hernandez Like God: there is a poem in all things-- the dawn as fragrant as a chosen bride, the beauty of night where darkness gleams; in the fields, life; in cities, music. Like God: those who can recognize a poem are rare, diamond is often taken for carbon, the sky is seen as reflected in ditch-water, the outlaw’s a patriot and the patriot a fraud. Like Man: a poem is created by one who is also a god; the mind of the poet often performs miracles-- a few coarse-grained words, apprehended, become bullets and roses. Like Man: a poem bears its own measures, melody, rhythm, the three elements of its loveliness; and freedom is the wing of a poem that makes it soar. Like God: a poem is a unique riddle whose answer lies in the throb of each sentient heart, it is riches in poverty, brilliant light in darkness, and pure honey in the bitter poison. Like Man: it is a rocky mountain and a nugget of gold, a camel that passes through the needle’s eye… the true poem is an arrow that pierces the target it chooses point-blank!