that feeling at the end of day

Poetry is as necessary
To life
As salt is to stew
As garlic is to pasta
As perfume is to summer nights
As shaving lotion is to mornings
As your smile is to
My happiness

Poetry is as significant
To life
As yeast is to bread
As butter is to toast
As grapes are to wine
As sugar is to lemons
How else will we get
Lemonade

Poetry is to me
Your voice
Your touch
Your laughter
That feeling at the end of day
That I am
Not alone

—Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943), "The Significance of Poetry," from Chasing Utopia, 2013. In a total coincidence, I posted Nikki Giovanni on this same day last year. I really love this collection, and hope to be posting poems from it for a good long time.