inspiration – poems 2 die for

PROVE ITSELF TO BE

inspire me
write me a poem
where each line travels forever
journeys through the abyss
finds the light

and when you find the light
bring me back a tiny gleam
a small sprinkling
nothing Betelgeuse, nothing
Aztec
nothing spotlight on
the stage, searchlight at
Belsen-Belsen

but fairy tale forests you
can do me too
but no
Hansel & Gretel house, nor
immaculate little for
Kamp Kommandant
and his spouse
and their
endearing toddler

inspire with great epic tales
with which I can regale
aforementioned
toddler
that he might become
even after this horrible,
treacherous start,
truly
incandescent, fellow
with an unfathomably deep
humanity

redeem the world through
the seeming impossibility
of his own redemption

hard to quantify, even venture
an estimate
as how crucial to
our salvation,
beyond inspirational such

a turn for the better
             could, when the final
reports are
in
   prove itself to be

NO EASY MEASURE

there are many ways
to start a poem
maybe an image, a theme
a rhythm
bouncing
around in your head
snake-like
rasp of word

many ways too,
to enter a poem
linear or
non-linear
syntactic
or symbolic

feeling your way
set to full tactile

or up
for helicopter shot
to view
as mosaic
put
everything
in perspective

then
fill in the detail
induced, deduced
seduced
at your pleasure

although
linger on
this thought
if you will, let us dissect
this
dark treasure

only
fair to point out,

to leave a poem, however,
(speaking
of seduction)
is no
easy measure

here is the poem
here is we are
unexpectedly
together

not so many ways down
from that height
this height,
routes
out of the labyrinth
this
labyrinth

safe and
without cost

hardly enough
to count on the
fingers
of one hand

so many surrendered
to the poem, dissolved,
got
absorbed by
poetry

something about
the beauty
of this python still
to comprehend

as it
closes the circle
you now mine forever