what poets don't know

what I may know about it

Poets don't write poems, anymore.
They sing and dance,
cheer the local football team,
fall in love with the cheerleader,
drink beer,
kiss but forget the next step,
fall asleep.

When poems appear in dreams,
in the form of lyrical oceans,
half naked gorgeous pageants of love,
they mistakenly feel its pornography.

Golden castles filled with mythical reality
are historical fan fiction,
Provocative landscapes that appear and disappear
in myriad flashes,
are left alone ad's
for unaccomplished foreign trips,
with unaccomplished women,
due to unaccomplished jobs,
unattained fertility,
because
words were not enough.

What poets don't know
is
words were never enough
they were means to the end
not the end to the means.


© Nothing Personal. May 03, 2011.

Reviews

[Siddhartha]

Yep. Poets don't know about a lot of things and of what they know they can articulate lesser still, for words almost always are limited in their scope and power while thought isn't...And somewhere, I believe, that in trying to master the craft we have forgotten the joy of the art.

[Kiri Nells]

I have to say I disagree a bit. Your poem was meant strictly for a message, so when people don't agree with the message, there is nothing left to the poem. Had I agreed with it, I might like it, but only because I liked the message. Confusing, I know. Anyway, don't let little me stand in the way. It's an honest review and I'm not going to rate it so that your score doesn't go down just because I didn't feel anything within the poem while somebody else might.
:) Not trying to be rude, I respect any and all artists and their work.

[CharlesMonroe]

I love this. I agree with Emily Burns. I've never felt like words where enough, if I wrote something and it only sounded like words I'd just throw it away. Thank you, for reminding me to stay real, in my own reality. This is amazing (:

[NinjaPi]

this is great. i must admit i have felt many times that words were enough. thanks for the reminder to come back to reality

[.]

loved it..words will never express fully the emotions that we feel..they are crude and clumsy..great insight and I take this to my heart to mull over more..

[Moflo]

This was fantastic! "They were means to the end/Not the end to the means" Fabulous ending! It is true, poets "mistakenly feel" and some people consider it a flaw but some also consider it an advantage. Great write.

[Jessica Harmony]

I love this!! :D i really lke the second stanza. This is great.

[Art]

there is always some wisdom behind your thoughts...an though poets don't write like the philosophical means we desire, you tear at the very ideas poets create...and that my friend sets you apart...

[Poeticadia]

"words were never enough".... reminds me of Walt Whitman when he wrote: "I swear I know what is better than to tell the best, it is always to leave the best untold". It is interesting to think about how much we can achieve with words.

[Emily B]

Edgar Lee Masters may not have known, but he had an idea when he wrote "Silence". I like yours, though. Something about the way your voice tripped along, always knowing where you were leading us. Poetry is so many things, we rarely stop to wonder what it is not.