‘I Spent My Youth with Byron and the Bard’ and Other Poetry by Caleb Winebrenner

I Spent My Youth with Byron and the Bard

I spent my youth with Byron and the Bard,
With Tennyson, the Brownings, and dear Keats—
And full of passions, eager, trying hard
To imitate their lofty, noble feats,
I found it true: the human heart does pump
In echo of the pure iambic line—
And such a card as this I hope may trump
The dealings of my early days, less fine.

With practice, thoughtful minds may hope to pen
A verse as artful, pleasant as ‘tis true;
It may well be as yet beyond my ken
To follow right those poets I once knew.

Yet, sonnets in their form will still endure
While verse gives life t’ affections known and pure.

Another Kiss

In memory, I still recall
The last, the sweetest parting kiss;
And if I understood at all
The things not said, I’d be remiss
If I denied to you, withal,
The tender joy I found in this.

So, tell me with another glance,
A smile, a word, a breath, a blush,
That I saw right—caught in the dance
Of light and shadow and the rush—
That it need not be left to chance,
I’ll know again that tender hush.

Caleb Winebrenner is a storyteller, poet, and educator whose mission in life is to guide our discovery of our lost humanity (including the traditions of humanities in the West). He holds a BA in Linguistics, an MA in Educational Theatre, and a certificate in Transformative Language Arts.