Where'ere the Poet's Limits Lay (Free Verse)

Where'ere the Poet's Limits Lay

Reaching for the twinkling stars

Is a strange and wonderful thing . . .

Reaching for that which defies

A grasp of common sense

Is the herculean effort

Of poets of great stature . . .

I must avoid the "deep" of that,

The poet's "stretch" that stints

To places I cannot understand

Or worse, give to you the sense

Of confusion that you may "ooh"

And "aah" and see and know

And feel nothing by the work.

If you are to feel anything true of

What my mind learns for you,

To feel in places you need

The words to reach the most--

I must only reach for what I can--

That which makes the vision clear

And accessible to your heart.

However simple and plain it is,

However unworthy for those

Who live to obfuscate and scoff.

I can make you laugh or cry

Or feel stones thrown

Across a willow'd pond

Where you can see orange fish

Fin gracefully along the bottom

Or not at all through bubbled algae top;

But you will see and hear and know

That I am real and here for you,

Yours poetically to have and know

At your convenience . . .

Or sadly, sometimes not.

Copyright 2006 Jim Ross