The Poetry of a former Prose writer

I’m not sure all poems are meant to be read

Aloud.  Private. Stumbling. So exposed.

When the words meet the ears, sound rather dead,

The elegant lines on the page sound posed.

But maybe it’s not in the “being read”

Maybe the problem lies with the reader.

Much of the poem is the way words are said

Destroying the rhyme, slaughtering meter.

Roots of poetry mingle with music,

But not everyone is the best singer.

An audience creates bad acoustics,

Even great poems brought down via flingers.

The life of the art is nurtured by those

Who protect their poems from readers of prose.




Not part of the poem: yeah i didnt know flingers was a word either, but it is... look it up. hey you get desperate when you have to rhyme with singer and i didnt want to have to change the end rhyme.