Poetry and Truth

Poetry and Truth

I have expressed at times, in lines of verse,
The things that I could never say in prose.
And hopefully the ones who read those lines
Will find, among them, here and there, a truth.

There are those truths that most agree are facts—
The features of the flowing outer world.
And then then there are the truths we find within—
That each may feel but none of us can show.

And some of these at least we can depict
With words or other symbols, recognized
By those who’ve known the thing we refer to.
And poetry can often aid in this.

It might have been that in the distant past,
When mind and speech were more uncluttered, words
Had more of weight—so speech was more like verse.
But then we lost that ancient, artless art.

So now we find this mainly not in speech
Or written prose, but now and then in verse—
Returning, as it were, to primal speech
And so to clarity and speaking truth.

But surely verse can also serve the ends
Of those who lie, for reasons of their own.
And so it is with everything.  And yet
We still can read a line and thrill to truth.

2018 December 29th, Sat.
Brooklyn, New York