The Poetry Parade

This poem is dedicated to all my fellow poets on a poetry forum I participate in. Some of the devices used in this poem, such as the throat clearing, the dashes and ellipses, are things that have been criticized by our peers on the forum, thus earning a special place in this poem.

A-hem! Dearly beloved,

we are gathered here together...

the oh-so-solemn traditionalists,

whose poetry smiles not,

the love-so-true,

sky-so-blue crowd,

the subtle ones who reach out,

grab your heart

and shake your psyche,

with their streamlined genius---

their words tenderly polished,

or cruelly pointed,

a brooding youngster or two,

whose words amaze,

even as they try to slink off the page,

their tails between their legs,

the ones who come from

the open wound school,

whose pain pulls you in, every time,

for an empathetic wallow,

a brilliant one or two who make you feel

that you're not quite brilliant enough,

to catch the tail of their high-flying kites,

and the one, missing the poetry step

on the ladder of his DNA,

who wanders in one day

and starts splashing through

the slow-moving currents of

the poetry forum,

with poetry so bad that

even the harshest critic

finds compassion lurking in his heart

and refrains from making comment...

We all come together here

in search of that elusive

perfect turn of a phrase---

the sweet embrace of poetry

our innocent pursuit.