CIVIC POET'S PRAYER
I.B. Rad
May I crush cultural icons
much as sheer weight of rock
compacts coal
to diamond,
then
may I chisel
those verses
so sharp edged
they cut through
the smoothest lies;
so abrassive,
they wear down
the stoniest heart;
so refractive,
they enlighten
even casual reader's lives.
Swell...,
but what of love poems?
Well, in that case,
may my verse
return to coal
and burn like hell!