THE LOST ART OF POETRY

THE LOST ART OF POETRY

What of a castle?

What of this?-

Expressing through words

Such verse that lauds

The pursuit and attainment

Of noble bliss,

Of timeless ages,

When courtships and chivalry

Composed the best of pages.

Truly there has been

And shall be better ages!

Yet of what do my contemporaries

Wish me to write?-

Of this day and age?

Of what indeed!-

Hedonism and perversity

That reverberates, unfurls;

Do they desire that I set these things to rhyme?-

The tragic, constant news of monotonous crime;

Of madness and murder,

In the severed, sordid, urban night?-

Yes, I believe indeed they do.

Yet which of these worlds

Would most edify you?

Down with the Monarchy!-
(My dear, I am only kidding.)
Besides, in our Democracy,
We do not have to contend with one.
(Not in the sun where we are sitting.)

 ~ John Lars Zwerenz