Uniquely Soundless
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Deep breath
Let it out, carry the blight
Another ... remember the mantra
It is NOT a reflection of my worth - ever
This imbalance, this favoritism ... yet ...
I work tirelessly, intensely
I scrape the walls of my spirit
Wring the drops of creativity from my core
Burn the pulpy paragons of my aim and acumen
All in the efforts to weave the finest fabric from phrase
To spin wonder from words and will
To affect the deepest emotion and imagination and ire
Simply by the ordering and placement of letters on a page
It is my passion - my craft
And I take nothing more seriously
Or more joyously
And no matter how magical the end game
No matter what the fruit born of my most astute energies
I drown in a cipher sea
(And this is not a perspective of arrogance, but rather empirical reality)
Patches of rough-hewn fabric that frays at the edge
Shredded attempts at art and assignment
That are their own worst rags and remnants
But are held up as the golden standard of excellence
And, (I kid you not), wonders of the writing world
Simply because of the signature at the bottom
(And often, a fake one at that)
Though it fails me as to where that absurd accolade originates
Oh, to but query straight out, without reproach -
Where-oh-where, is the ripe in this refuse?!?
What is the redemption you find in these careless phrases?
Stuffy words stuffed into stuffy stanzas
All for the sake of feigned profundity
How can anyone possibly take such transparent text
For anything but mediocrity and mush?!?
Still, the endless comments of adoration ... at a loss
It is a weekly, daily, even hourly poison to my soul
Rending, ragged, my person and fertile prescience
Leaving my hands clenched and blue
My wit and whimsy tattered
My quill filled with blood
And my heart ... taxed and weary.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden | Year Posted 2018
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