A POESSAY

   A poessay is more than just a lyric;
   It aims to sing yet also be empiric,
   A tuneful way to find what I’ve to say
   Setting it in a form devised to stay.

   There’s magic in the web of such a song,
   A beat that carries subtle thought along
   As from the depths of the Mysterium
   New matter rises and ideas come.

   To write in plain expository prose
   Will often make a sleepy reader doze;
   But add a beat, anticipate a rhyme,
   Then hear what was prosaic turn sublime.

        The message you have sent may be the same,
        But one in poetry wins more acclaim.

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POESSAY II

  
      While a lyric poet sings and minds his notes
      Attending to the feelings he emotes, 
      And one whose line is narrative will tell 
      A tale to enchant you with its cunning spell, 
      My kind of verse straight-forwardly explains,
      Less aimed at feet or hearts than curious brains.
  
      My poessays are expositional, 
      My attitude that of a knowing pal 
      Who’s onto something that might interest you, 
      A line of thought I’d coax you to pursue, 
      And yet as much as you, or more, I find 
      That as I write I grow the more aligned 
      With what it was I thought I had to say—
      Though without verse, I’d never find my way.

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