The Triune Potency
According to Penelope Murray, “Socrates . . . . says, ‘any story or poem . . . narrates things past, present or future’ ”. ~ Plato on Poetry, 4
We want a poem that is full of now,
And past, and future, full. We want intense
Severity of teeth. We want to bow
Gazelle-like to the leopard’s front fangs, dense
With meaning and with ambiguity.
The present all alone is not enough.
We want an urge to promiscuity
With what is past and future, rape as rough
As words can manage. Settling for the past
When we could have tomorrow and today
Involved in the assault would not be vast
Enough to meet our needs. The lines must slay.
..We want it all in perfect poetry,
….Our history, present, and eternity.