manifesto 2011

poetry
for want of a better word

should be the kiss
with just enough tongue
to make you want more

should be the sun
drying your bare skin
as you lay by the pool

should be the pill
you swallow to focus
on sixteen lines, not six thousand

should be the eyes
of a lover, boring into you
at the moment of mutual release

shoud be the faith
not the job or the hobby
as a band-aid does not make a surgeon

should be the truth
even if speculative about lovers
you will never actually meet or coit

should be the craft
learned then sublimated
to allow inspiration a channel

should be the page
not the caterwaulings
of a performance artist clown

should be the blood
of lovers and heroes and saints
traced upon flesh at the moment of death

poetry
for want of a better word


William F. DeVault. all rights reserved.