Marc Janssen

Perro

Perro
Perro
Perro is dog

I can say perro all day
I still cannot train my tongue
Engage it clunkily inside the pan of my mouth
Send the word out into air.

This might be the way it has to be
Under the noise
Learning
Because dog is perro
And perro is dog.

It is slow to know
Perro is dog 
It takes a long time for that leash to be automatic
Some intention
Some work
But when I say it wrong
He still comes. 

Marc Janssen has been writing poems since around 1980. Some people would say that was a long time, but not a dinosaur. Early decrepitude has not slowed him down much; his verse can be found scattered around the world in places like Pinyon, Slant, Cirque Journal, Off the Coast, and Poetry Salzburg also in his book November Reconsidered. Janssen coordinates the Salem Poetry Project—a weekly reading—the occasionally occurring Salem Poetry Festival, and was a nominee for Oregon Poet Laureate. For more information visit, marcjanssenpoet.com.