Another manifesto stating the obvious
Plain spoken with no attempt at guise or guile
Nothing like the poetry favored by the literati
Included in their precious curated collections.
Is it poetry if it lacks metaphors and images
Making no obscure references no allusions
Simply and directly expressing thoughts and feelings
To be easily understood by anyone who breathes.
If the medium is the message then that explains it
Remembering what I did to an ivy league literary magazine
Words printed in fancy fonts on fine paper bound elegantly
Became typed words mimeographed on coarse paper stapled.
What once was esoteric and sold to a self-selected few
Made over into a kind of broadsheet given away
Like a bundle of leaflets distributed without pretensions
Handed to a wider audience than refined readers of poetry.
And now I publish poems on a website hosted for free
Available to all to view provided they have the link
But otherwise undiscovered almost like the dark web
Writing like another vox clamantis in deserto.
It matters to me to speak from the heart
Encouraged by the memory of dear friends gone now
Who helped me to find my voice in their time
Knowing something said well honors them.
