A Poem for World Poetry Day: ‘To the Reader of Verse’ by Paul Buchheit

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To the Reader of Verse

Ah, lover, critic, arbiter of verse,
divulge your passions, fill a lusting soul
with praises. Let the balladeer coerce
the skeptic. Let the troubadour cajole
Antaéus: wrestle not with me, unclench
your fists. Behold the Muse Calliope,
her flights and fancies. Bear the hellish stench
of Falsifiers, Dante’s misery.
Embrace the pillowy and blinding white
hosannas of the snowbound winter pine;
the calligraphic spirals in the flight
of starlings; dabs of earthen misty wine
in summer’s dawn; and longings to beguile
the spirit with a sonnet’s luring style.

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Paul Buchheit is an author of books, poems, progressive essays, and scientific journal articles. He recently completed his first historical novel, 1871: Rivers on Fire.  His poetry has appeared in The Lyric, Illinois State Poetry Society, Poets & Patrons of Chicagoland, Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest, Society of Classical Poets, and other publications.