Poetry Plea

POETRY PLEA There was a time when every word and phrase Each sentence stanza paragraph and verse Was written, with a clearness to our gaze When simply made, extravagant or terse Crafted in empyrean structure did they seem With lucidity and freshness of a dream. * Though perhaps this retrospect views life 'en rose' By one who mourns more recent language trend Please excuse an old curmudgeon to oppose Loss of rhythm, rhyme and form when words are penned In wild emotion stream, no punctuation Unshaped, obscure, unfitted for oration I concede that those in anguish loss and pain May find solace in expression, ease the ache I will greet some words bizarre that rules profane And find space for conscious stream and Finnegan's Wake But let's start from proven cast fore violation Symmetry in form and grammar's affirmation * Hat tip to Wordsworth for the inspiration of this verse