submission by Natchai Leenders

[Natchai Leenders]

Unpublished Poem

Natchai Leenders

The Rhyme Traveler's Tale

Tales have been told, before we all chanted Fus-Ro-Dah!
Heart of the bards tellin' of the Winged Dragon of Ra
The classics Acropolis Artists wrote you should know
Myths of the Medusa and heroism of Homer (d'oh!)

Skalds, weaving warrior wisdom, striking shields.
Steel bearing singers, the Edda and runes they yield 
Kennings of old, describing death, hard trials and tears
Bragi's Brethren ran the lands for so many years
Wandering medieval minstrels for a piece of gold
Metaphors of monarchs and monsters are told
Court bards with their ballads and rhymes
The Dark Ages are the truly Forgotten Times.

We're Donne with conceits, the literary conceited
who think that the Othello fellow has them all defeated.
Frantic about the Romantics with prejudice and pride
Modernist pound-ing, get the picture of Wilde world wide.

Rhythm and Poetry on the streets,
supported by bouncing beats. 
Double L, Nas, 2Pac, Em, Hoffa
What other rappers had to offer
were wordsmiths at war with wit.
The pen their club for whoever bit
'em including Lil' Lyricists with laptop licks.
Masses of mumbling minstrels with cheap tricks.
Many graduate to the face-tatted Gucci Gang.
The Hall of Poetical Horror is where they hang.

We ponder upon the past and possibilities of poetry.
The cards, the stones, the future they're showin' me:
I hope a blast to the past with class acts or a hybrid
of entertainment, bestin' jesters like the past I did.

[Marianne Larsen Reninger]

Thanks for the historical travelogue of poetry!  Enjoyed...I often think our form of expression is the most antiqued  and the most future endangered.  Hopefully, we'll defy the odds!