MEASURE

MEASURE

measure that phrase
see what we might
distil from it

Oh the essence of that cadence
is elixir, to put it
plebian  plainly
is music
   to my ears

has a French know not what
syllabic ring to it

is pleasant of feel and
to the touch in exquisite extreme

would that I could write so:
be creature of delicate
supplement, careful balance

even as the world is shifting:
places where already breakneck
is even out-accelerating

and the page
the page

      things seismic there, the text
spiking, falling, big fear is
cannot but
       be flat-
lining somewhat shortly

as for the stage
       much staggering incomprehension in respect
of beneath the boards all
                    tectonic plates

strike at the need to measure
but by then, of course,
               too late   too late