#poem #poetry #amwriting into the woods 3

let critics with their salty hands
bemoan and plague this plate of fruit
what care the fauns of these lands
of meter rhymes and rules laid suit
when those without divine intent
who plod out words with their pen
in cryptic verse of modern bent
demand these laws return again

pass the wine and join the dance
beat out the drum for here we dance
and if the plodders choose to prance
smile forbearance of the snide
for in le corbusier's dream they hide
for fear of that what lays outside

oh juvenal reign down in mirth
come forth milton and give birth
give apples sweet to great dante
make bottom dear again donkey
for piled high are quince and grapes
from this full dish the merry sates
should they not choose to prate
fat chance of that in this world mate

for poetry now is a shriveled thing
where once philosophy took wing
the barren realm of I is king

no more delight in word and wit
just foolish gold of arsenic
and angry cries from targets hit

so with loosened tongue and lifted palate
plosive lips and glottal free
let us hang the last of our gallery
and ignore the psalms of those who hate

first came in woe and lamentation
fresh from fruitless consultation
a rabbi held up faultless in the law
this man could recite the torah
word perfect from the age of nine
and talmud if he had the time
not that he did for he was pressed
closing the seas of exodus
as more of his congregation fled
to bounce on trampolines and beds
at the jumping jews for jesus hall
such anguished tears stained his shawl
mothers wept for their children
forsaking the unbroken generations
had they suffered persecution for this
the temporary thrill of uplifting bliss
with that dreaded book in hand
blood for blood on the sins of man
he was orthodox straight and true
his eyes they sparkled kind and blue
his laugh could light a room with joy
in private he a bisl goy
no harm had he or offence did hatch
yet here was landed on his watch
a challenge intractable with his lord
and worse for he plainly saw
there sitting with a camera crew
that muslim of shape-shifting jews
could his day grow more grim
to spend an evening with him
but he found the heart to face the trial
as joseph chained unto to the nile
for while he breathed and stayed a jew
for the lord his kindred could renew