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The Poet's Dilemna

A cri de coeur can't be a work of art.
Its zealousness drives sense away, pulls rhyme
to moon at June and here (I'm sorry) "heart."
From paucity some poets may try on "clime."
Aboard the wagons of the criers' band,
the preacher's prattle petrifies the mind
that tries to get away with sleight of hand.
We throw away the melon, eat the rind
when'ere we 'press a thought down for the counts.
Because, as poets, we're prone to masquerade,
we lose our raison d'etre in petty flounce,
or lose our audience — it's quick to jade.

We could express ourselves in prose that's terse,
but then we'd be believed, and that is worse.

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The Poet's Dilemma appeared on The Hungry Reader's Rhyme & Meter Feeder website, with these feather images.