A Paean For Pensive People

 

“Apollo, god of my greatest amore,

Olympic mountaineer I truly adore,

Old protector of my ineffable truths,

I drink deep from the well of your lore.”

 

Which is to make plain (in the modern way)

That I love to write poems in splendid array;

You might imagine I'm merely addicted, well

Guilty as charged, I compose where I may.

 

'The more the merrier' is my ultimate guide,

I'm a lifer by choice, I often confide

To those who request an explanation

For my rhyming tomfoolery, my unflinching pride.

 

And I often admit I could use some assistance

In stemming this tide of addictive existence,

But each time I venture to hold back the flow

My mind returns to the middling distance …..... .

 

From where I run through my latest ideas

For a stanza or three I've been mulling for years;

Don't stop me, it's useless, I yearn in my heart

As a sonnet appears on my laptop of tears.

 

So please don't pity this wretched verse-maker,

When you realise I'm both a giver and taker;

I may be sweating a new villanelle

But – end of the day – I'm just an old fakir.

 

Chris Hubbard

2020