Why Some People Do Not Read Poetry

Because they already know that it means

stopping and without stopping they know that

beyond stopping it will mean listening

listening without hearing and maybe

then hearing without hearing and what would

they hear then what good would it be to them

like some small animal crossing the road

suddenly there but not seeming to move

at night and they are late and may be on

the wrong road over the mountain with all

the others asleep and not hitting it

that time as though forgetting it again

-W.S. Merwin (2009)