THE TRUTH by TED JOANS

[Related Post: 39 POEM SEEDS FROM POEMS-FOR-ALL]


"The Truth" by Ted Joans is one of the 38 Poems-For-All booklets sent to Moi by PFA curator Richard Hansen.  As soon as I read it, I knew I had found the book to "shelve" on the mini "Director's Chair."  Because the poem is a directive of sorts ...:

THE TRUTH

if you should see

a man

walking down a crowded street

talking aloud

to himself

don't run

in the opposite direction

but run towards him

for he is a POET!

you have NOTHING to fear

from the poet

but the TRUTH

Here's the cover of the mini-book:

You open the book to see the emphasized "you have NOTHING to fear from the poet but the TRUTH":

You then open to the centerfold which presents the poem itself:

And this is the back cover, which reiterates part of PFA's wonderful mission:

scattered around town -- on buses,

trains, cabs, in restrooms, bars, left

along with the tip; stuffed into a

 stranger's back pocket. Whatever. Wherever.

I'm pleased several PFA booklets made it to SitWithMoi as part of their "Whatever. Wherever."  Here, then, is Ted Joans' 1 5/8" x 2" poem-book "shelved" on the Director's Chair: