‘Today’ (A Tetraquartet) and Other Poetry by Paul Millan

Today

Awake, and do not fade away
into your gloom—and stay within
your room. Instead, without delay,
compel yourself to a wide grin,

and slowly some joy will sink in,
as you’ll allow yourself to think
of how much worse it could have been—
the tumble downward from the drink,

how much lower there was to sink
(i.e. deceased inside a grave
to never wake and once more blink).
As you recuperate, you’ll crave

the life lived by the knave, behave!
Don’t let yourself be habit’s prey.
Today—each day—you’ll need to pave
the road toward your finest days.

In Need of a Hand

Assist me please, O brother mine,
the times have not been kind to me;
got fired from the assembly line,
which sadly I did not foresee.

My kids must eat, in total three
of them. I do not want to lurk
and frequently chime with a plea
to each man that I’ll see—I’ll work.

And do not think that I will shirk
from my responsibilities.
Please, I do not want to irk;
let me pledge my abilities

working at your facilities.
Allow my kids once more to dine.
You’ll like my capabilities,
if not, I swear I will resign.

Poet’s Note: The above poems are tetraquartets, a form I invented. Below are its parameters:
4 iambic feet per line (iambic tetrameter).
4 lines per stanza (quatrains).
4 quatrains total.
4 interlocking rhymes, organized thus: abab / bcbc / cdcd / dada

Paul Millan currently resides in Glendora, California. His work has appeared on Lighten-Up Online, and will appear in Westward Quarterly.