They add flavor
Like chocolate in milk
Making it almost drinkable.
Not too many, of course,
Never "serendipitous"
Nor even "meticulous"
Just a few
Like pepper flakes
To give a poem heat.
A dash of this and that
Not a "copious" bit of this
Or "ample" that
But salt
For proper seasoning.
Neil Ellman is a retired educator living and writing in New Jersey. His poems have appeared in numerous print and online journals, and he has published four chapbooks.