popcorn

how fragile the ego
when morning has broken!
the poet must be careful
what words shall be spoken;
for daylight is brittle
when words, draped in spittle,
the tongue has thus harnessed
to yield its vile harvest.

a treacherous perch on
the edge of the abyss
constrains the contender
to safeguard his chalice.
a poet must be humble,
lest others should stumble
on metaphors pungent
or puns too indulgent.

a kindly word spoken
in time or in season
inspires the lost soul to
find comfort in reason;
but epithets charged in
the venom of chagrin
inter the bruised spirit
with woeful deficit.

fresh corn in the oven
pops out of its fine skin
when temperatures blister
the place it reclines in;
the balm of the poet—
if he would bestow it!
—transforms the earth's parchment
with lyric enchantment.

© Copyright 2021 March 12
by Clyve A. Bowen♫