Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com  
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                                     ­  The Natural Voice of Poetry

                    The modern kings will throttle you to greet
                    The piping voice of artificial birds

                                      -Claude McKay, “To a Poet”

We love the natural voice of poetry
Sung through parking lots and lonely rooms
In low, soft winds that sigh through empty cans
Discarded on the banks of the River Lethe

But we must suffer those artificial birds
Against whom we were cautioned by friend McKay
Who landed in New York and made it Jamaica
There through the natural voice of poetry

By him the artificial birds were set to flight
And the songs of exiles given harmony and light