Six Words


yes	
no
maybe
sometimes
always
never

Never?
Yes.
Always?
No.
Sometimes?
Maybe—

maybe 
never
sometimes.
Yes—
no
always:

always
maybe.
No—
never
yes.
Sometimes,

sometimes
(always)
yes.
Maybe
never . . .
No,	

no—
sometimes.
Never.
Always?
Maybe.
Yes—

yes no
maybe sometimes
always never.

Copyright © 2003 by Lloyd Schwartz. First published in Ploughshares, Spring 2003 and reprinted in How to Eat a Poem (Dover Publications, 2006). Appears courtesy of the author.