What Poetry Should Be and Never Be
Too many people think that poetry
Should be like this one photo of a dusk.
They think that poetry should only be
Pink, lavender, and fuzzy clouds. No musk
Of malenesss, armpit smell, and not, not, not
A waft of crotch sweat from a man. The verse
Should be a thing of beauty and not hot
Strength thrusting in a quivering hole. Far worse
Are lines that tell of torture, never truths
About the lynching of black men for lies
Of Mistress White Trash. It is fine that youths
Olympian in form can reach our eyes
In poems. Just don’t write about the ones
Who drop the napalm on young girls in tons.
~ Phillip Whidden