What Poetry Alters

You read poetry for the survival that filters through its lines Poetry that promises healing no matter wars in distant lands Poetry's brash cracks of hope as the planet veers off kilter in disarray with lines idling, a narrow gush of pleasure Poetry with a script of heroes that wipes away the mess of life, earth's crowded house of frenzy Poetry with multi layered meanings most a fog, like digital tech updates Poetry to sanitize the world, which it won't Poetry to restore the thin crust of political civility, which it doesn't And if you're the last person to see the light, poetry won't save you Still your need to read poetry expands a validation of landscapes unseen a lighthouse in a world of complications for sometimes verses lift your thinking for sometimes lines breath through you. Poem revised: May 5, 2021