I've been reading a lot of early twentieth century poetry lately.


In a Time of Diminished Expectations

If I should turn ecstatic, slap me. If I babble as do crippled
Souls, your Cranes and Dickinsons, be sure to drown me
In your well, and, if I take to big ideas, the sort which
Seemed so much in vogue about a hundred years ago,
And which, as if to compensate for all the rest of life
Becoming overly accelerated, called for use of foreign
Words and ancient myths and all of that, be sure to
Wrest my pen from me. We've watched the culture
Fall to ruin, fallen for all sorts of cant, and learned,
At least, I think we've learned, that elemental
Declarations, simple thoughts abruptly stated,
Said to be no more than what one mind believes
Its world is, have superceded big ideas. Another
Culture looms, I guess, and, with it, ecstasies and
Schema. I will hew to what I know...and hope
To slip your slap.



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 15 times
Written on 2012-09-07 at 01:35

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