ADZE: A POEM

I'm preparing a critique of Josh Corey's views on organic vs. nonorganic poetry, which I find very thought provoking, although I don't exactly share his take on the dichotomy… it may be a while, as I'm busy… it's kind of like preparing a debate with Clarence Darrow… so stay tuned…

In the meantime, here's a fine poem by Adze (aka Allen Sutterfield), and as he gave me a green light on publishing his stuff here, well, HERE GOES. This is one of five thousand-odd texts in his City of Words project…

THE POET

1.

"As above, so below."
…………..Hermes Trismegistus

I've got to breathe the alpine air
To stay afloat up here
But that's an air I know,
Glass-hooved goat of high peaks:
Words carry me across the crevasse
When air alone is underfoot:
World is there, where I land,
Page is my rock-shelf,
A page like this, showing words and world
Since both, not either, is where I trek and stand.

2.

"Bic in hand/is a magic wand!"
……………Tram's APOTHEGMS

Afternoon magic show under the trees
As the magician mixes elements in the breeze:
Water, Earth, and Air blend in Fire:
Light show extraordinaire!
Lawn party for the elite
Or carnival booth on the street
Magic is the frame
Of the picture that he forms.
No one can exactly say
Whether it is work or it is play
Yet all who see are made aware
Of the unusual happening there:
Equal measure in the scales,
Rite of passage to other worlds.



-- Allen Sutterfield (Adze)