Poets Praise, Poke, and Pretend

Poets are human. We know it.

To spade amid piles of moldy wit,

We poets guide readers far inside

Where angels and demons hide,

Our foibles and yours exposed

With feral imaginings to disclose,

Where fairy auras or firefly glow.

We tease tadpoles where rivers flow.

We sit with pen alone to ponder

Our world, a universe of wonder.

We will wrangle a vision to chart

Wounds of body, mind, and heart,

Or reshape a whole, part by part.

We test the metaphysical extent

Or wonder where the yellow went.

 

That mettle and merit may repose

In your own whisperings to a rose.

We jostle in metrical sublimation

For seeds of silence or convocation.

Beneath a stratum of manly pride

Or fleshy softness of feminine side,

We wist and parse with a simile,

Taste-test a capon in a fricassee.

Taste with our eyes. You might

Welcome a burgeoning appetite

Swelling as metaphors intrude

Neath lids of your disquietude.

Reviews may hold subjective view,

Not pure or simple, nor even true.

You see, faint analyses or reproof

Falls upon deaf ear of poets aloof.

 

Being faint-hearted or cold reveals

Such an attitude as might alight

The flames of prejudice or spite

Into the practicality of eugenics

Or practiced verbal calisthenics.

Join us as we test depths of soul

To mine riches dearer than gold.

We can write to banish timidity

Or rhyme at length with rigidity.

We can languish in funky mood

Or into guarded hearts intrude.

Poetic integrity surely be real,

For poets find universal appeal.

Author's Note

I wrote this as a tribute to us poets.

Reviews

[Crowley]

And what a wonderful and at times embarrassingly accurate tribute!!! I was just wondering about this the other day as to what makes one piece of writing better than the next and the shy did my sure fire piece bomb and the one I thought was lackwit and lackluster enjoy a better embrace. Its all Greek to me. I think I'll stop thinking and go enjoy that capon in a fricassee...I'm hungry.

[bigfootprint]

A delightful review, Crowley. That is why I love to write poetry, not for egotistical reasons, but for freedom to bare the basest of notions without pause for danger of misunderstanding. Everyone interprets content in the context of their own psyche and experiences. There is no wrong way to write right. Thank you.

[barleygirl]

This is FAR AND AWAY my favorite poem of yours that I've read so far. This is pure delight. Your message is center stage, but also great rhyme & rhythm, plus some killer well-crafted lines: "We tease tadpoles where rivers flow" (could be literal, I write a few frog poems, but also it's figurative) . . . "Taste-test a capon in a fricassee" . . . your verbal calisthenics are in prime fit condition here! Great pleasure to do a few tumbling passes with you (((HUGS))) fondly, Margie

[bigfootprint]

Your comments bring a tear. If I ever wanted to do anything called great, it would involve stringing together such imagery and words as to wax poetical. It is humbling to hear such sparkling commentary. Thanks, Margie.

[Onlyme]

Wow, Doug, this is exceptional, true and articulately poetically done with class, style and expertise. Loved it

[bigfootprint]

Thank you, Dawn. It is always a treat to get your review.

[Onlyme]

Doug you always make me smile. Thank you for being you Doug. A lovely gentleman. Hugs. Dawn.

[bigfootprint]

awww, you are sweet