Accounting For Taste
The Romans saith,
"De gustibus non est disputandum,"
which translation goes,
"Don't argue about style."
Polkas all sound the same
to fans of rap,
and rap sounds all the same
to those the polkas claim.
John said,
"I like all music".
But I'm free to generally
dislike "country"
and prefer "folk".
We must never judge
another person's style.
All is idiosyncrasy.
But what would we do
without music.
Author's Apologia
Don't say my poems
have no use.
If nothing else -
If they don't sell -
or if I give them away free
they can be used
in ticker tape parades
and weddings
as celebratory confetti.
Fragments In Flight
My argument
with the Gestapo
began early
and bloomed
late into night
with Cistercian monks
hiding me away
in the basements
of their factories.
They cried for
unity of thought
and I resolved
in the face
of all difficulties
to remain individual
like a monk
in cloister.
Offering
This is not
a great poem,
but it is
well-meant.
The Meaning Of Blue
They wanted to know
the meaning of blue,
and that blue sweater
of yours, Elaine,
what does the blue
mean to you
(or me)?
If it means
nothing at all,
it will be saved.
It must mean
nothing
to be real.
For then nothing
is real
except blue.
Necessary Formula
Lao Tsu said
"More words count less"
but nevertheless
it is hard but necessary
to say what needs to be said.
Courage.
Words are not
quite afflictions
as some believe.
Babylon Redux
Alas Babylon. If you had
foregone your idols
of money, sex and power
you might have survived
and even thrived.
But I see your decline
as the work of God,
and God's work is fine.
Weep?
You eviscerated pregnant
women.
Poem of Rock
These are the frills:
the princes and the paupers,
the parties and the masses.
Resist them.
Be an island.
It is foreordained
that you shall be
as living rock
amidst the jingle
of jade unattached pendants.