1. An Inaudible Gong
Until volition comes to a halt
we’ve got this bunch of strategies
for mending every flaw and fault
that undergird our gay Gestalt
of pleas
and lies and prolonged queries, of laughter
that often leads to ridicule
and causes one man to hang from a rafter,
another to flea, leaving nothing after
but traces of fuel
and memories in the heads of others –
which intrigue but fade before very long
then reemerge in other men’s druthers,
or else from the lips of their lisping lovers
to brush an inaudible gong.
Yes, strategies strange and strategies strong!
As volition keeps going, on and on,
we pick them from out of a gleaming throng.
We examine them first so as not to choose wrong.
Sometimes we trade a king for a pawn.
Some are tightlipped, while others leak.
Some are new and some are antique.
Some boast quite a bit, though this one’s meek.
See that one dive off a dizzying peak!
Behold them all - these strategies oblique.
2. The Finest Lists
There ain’t no need to make a list,
for strategies don’t work that way.
Indeed, they oftener resist
us as we clasp them in our fists
of clay
(although it cannot be denied
that lists indeed are of a type
of strategy that’s often plied
when all the others have been tried
or aren’t yet ripe.
Ben Franklin and Jay Gatsby, too,
were fond of lists and penned a few.
The virtues, in the former’s view,
could help us better grasp the true
when numbered in their queue.
And Order was his very bane,
with Resolution on its heels.
For wouldn’t an untidy brain
on firm decisions place some strain
and turn resolve to broken wheels?
The latter listed aim by aim
some goals for mind and for physique,
foreshadowing, as readers claim,
his future in its daisy-chain.
The finest lists are always most oblique.)
3. Horace in a Hearse
Precisely for this reason, then,
there isn’t just one place to start
in bringing them into our ken.
For as I’ve said, there’s no Top Ten
in Art
or Action. (Hmm…a comely quote
to put into The Quotable Haas
for would-be bards to learn by rote
or strike an epigraphic note
to win applause
from some creative writing prof
who’s found me on the Internet
and noted that I’m standing off
from verse in print, at which I scoff.
The Net’s a better bet.
For print is on the wane, it seems,
and books of poetry don’t sell.
Just look at all those yellow reams
collecting dust on musty themes.
The Hippocrene’s an empty well.
Some sorcerer has placed a curse
on poems that aren’t melodied.
The sun has set on printed verse.
They’ve hauled off Horace in a hearse.
In this life all my poems shall go unfee’d.)
4. Muzzled Pup
Yes, mostly they elude our clutch.
Extracting them in retrospect
from spite and mundane such and such,
we baste and blame ourselves for much
neglect.
“How couldn’t we have spied this thing?
So unassuming. Does it speak?”
We seize it, bind its broken wing
and wrap solicitation’s sling
around its beak.
That’s what we do…we shut it up
and make of it a silly game
like Bingo or Gnip Gnop.
We pacify the muzzled pup.
“Don’t worry, kids…it’s tame!”
Voila! The strategy is gone,
and once again we grasp at straws.
The king has gobbled up each pawn.
It’s time to mow the checkered lawn.
We turn to Bach or Plato’s Laws
for inspiration, cheer and grist –
to what the muzzled pup agrees
will reinforce our shaky gist
or veil its flaws with antique mist.
But these of course are also strategies!