Bob Hicok
Notes for a job description
March 17, 2026
Sky above Clouds IV, Georgia O’Keeffe (1965)
When I was eleven
I watched a balloon escape
a kid’s hand and wondered
if I could do that
for a living if I
grew up. Eventually
the question was answered
when I started writing poems
that were terrible
in the end but elated me
in their rising and floating
away from my fingers
and blood, each one,
in their becoming,
a shouted or whispered
set of instructions
for how to pronounce
that most complicated word,
yes.
