Leave the Poet Alone

warning:
leave the poet alone.

you might think that
your weapons of authority
will win you favor,
always help you get your way
but poetry has more power
than you will ever know.

you might believe in
official forms and
mindless bureaucracy
but formless verse carries
more weight than you
will ever understand.

you might swear upon
your construction of
nation and God
but poetry is alchemy,
magic.

if you try to mess with the poet
it will come back on you
in ways you’d never expect,
unexplainable things
will happen. it’s not a threat.

you simply can’t disrupt
the muse and the quest for
truth and peace the poet
seeks and expect the universe
to shine favor upon you.
it doesn’t work that way.

take my advice:
leave the poet alone.

Author: Dan Steven Erickson

Dan Steven Erickson is a great undiscovered American songwriter.