*****

Recorded Reading (1:23): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/55l2z7k928t7r691s4l0a/Before-You-Deride-It.mp3?rlkey=xf4fottn2nc182bz5bxxv976j&dl=0

*****

“We don’t need no stinkin’ poet’s ‘roun’ heah!”

Before You Deride It

Before you deride it —
Have you ever tried it?
Writing, I mean, in good rhyme?

Did the result
Fail to catapult
You into regions sublime?

How much frustration
Went into summation,
How much sweat and how much time?…

Now that we know
I have the flow
Of something you cannot do

Let’s get it all out:
Let’s talk about
What poetry is worth to you

Are you so scared
That you’re prepared
To claim it is anywise true;

To blanket state —
The art’s not so great
And without it we could better do?

Well, scornful brother —
Into one or the other
Category you must fall:

Someone into
Denigration, who
Must display, public, your gall

And otherwise aim
For spurious claim
That poetry’s no good at all?

(Some might go along
But will find you are wrong
The next time they’re craving a song!)

*****

Until removal of the stalker/targeter/vandal/arsonist following her allows her to approach any landlord ~ even for a private parking space ~ and to begin once again to create professional connections and to rebuild her life, this poet presently lives homeless and at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level ~ still working seven days a week to contribute to her society, however.

Arts patrons may visit http://www.UgiftABLE.com , using code #72D-31S, or choose to send a personal check to the poet’s ABLE account. It takes about two weeks for the poet to be notified of your patronage.

Thank you for supporting quality in the fine arts.