(Or: I don’t think Archibald MacLeish
Intended to create a new fundamentalism)
Another rejection letter
has arrived
from the poetry editor---
and the last line I read
is both familiar
and slightly sinister:
“Show,
don’t tell.”
Oh hell.
Do you honestly believe
every poem is a painting?
That words are like turds
(mute as fruit)
and so fragrant
they
never need explaining?
Oh well---you can say
whatever perversion
that you like, Mr. Editor.
After all, this is America.
But I say to you:
Go take a hike
and kiss
my Ars Poetica.Daniel Klawitter is a member of the Colorado Poets Center and has been published in numerous journals both online and in print, including: The Atonal Poetry Review, Blue Collar Review, Cyclamens & Swords, The Journal of South Texas English Studies, Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine, Penwood Review, The People’s Tribune, Shot Glass Journal, and many others.
Bay Laurel / Volume 1, Issue 1 / Autumn 2012