working at the bookstore,
searching for the words

though I’m 49
still at times a Theo-nerd

poetry beats prose
it’s a truth some cannot face

the unacknowledged legislators
of the human race

Shelley was quite right
a Pythagorean who could own it

the music is the mystery
from the sacred silence shown it

so write your verse quite carefully
and sing from your deep heart

future folk will listen
and live by your true art