The Kiss Of Life

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY?

How dare these works compete

for your eyes and purse with those

of my masters, Donne and Keats!

If just one verse outlives this author’s death

it may, by chance, have gained the right

to kneel before their feet, inside this arena

of infinite time, or none at all, where all things are,

from atom dust to vastest star

Each poem in this book awaits excitedly,

hoping your heart might love it enough

to bear it past that void-eyed guard,

who bars the frontier of mortality.

Indeed, to help you care, they ask me here

to speak of how their words will change your life,

with truths that purge the layers of paints,

that hide the ancient grain, until it’s bare,

and live with scents, that throng the air.

But why should you believe such claims?

For only fools would eat such mouthfuls of exalted air,

instead of wholesome veg or meat.

It’s best to check the path ahead,

before you take this unknown ride.

So pick a random spot to view

the verses on a page or two.

Then, if they bring you joy, to glide

from poem to poem;

or take up residence inside.

You’ll find if you click the ‘View Online’

that every page throws wide

its door to let you in, and thus

you may give your eyes a tour

until you growl with rage,

then dance in ecstasy,

or start to snore!