Poetry Won'T Hold Her Tongue

Poetry won't hold her tongue When desperate times The little men they breed Would counsel silence. She bursts instead Athenalike From out the wearied brain Or grows painfully from every vein Like ivy's tiny tendrils Pulling monuments to ground Inch by inch To let in the light and rain From which newer monuments may grow. She cares not at all For their inconvenience. She shows herself so many ways: As the boldly topless Priestess, Snakes coiled about her outstretched arms As the nun in golden sunlight Falling through cathedral stone This lady is a child All innocence of face, Ageless eyes She knows all that remains of purity, Every excess she calls her own. She woos the soul with its own music; Her skin of sunsets draws her devotees Towards her embrace Her sweetcool breath like snowind calling She comes again unbidden Whispering sweet nothings, Bearing words to work Creation Destruction Change Upon her restless, Gifted Tongue.