Poetic Compulsions

 








why are some poor souls compelled

to leave enchanted sleep of daily life 

to carve into the psyche?


clairvoyant poets, balladeers 

spewing tales and allegories 

aphorisms, similes, metaphors 


randomly regurgitating  phrases,

strands of words sometimes sweet,

sometimes crude, often vague


recording thoughts and feelings,

threads so hard to convey,

most don’t attempt to understand. 


proselytizing mystical murmurs,

streams of words forming meaningless,

or meaningful cobwebs.


poetic language, rhymes and rhythms

misinterpreted, inaccurately translated

misread by analysts, misunderstood


by clueless literalists,

taken out-of-context, misquoted

by buffoons smitten with inexactitude.


human beings have a tendency to

search for meaning

even when there is none 


do poems have meaning?

does meaning come from the writer,

the reader, the critic or the source?


what is the source

of these random regurgitations, 

these half-digested hallucinations,


these feelings of angst and awe

these fears and insecurities,

these vulnerabilities?


why do some poor souls feel compelled

to plunge a dagger into their  guts

and bleed onto the page?


are they the universe

trying to comprehend itself?


© 2025 Bruno Talerico 


Stafford challenge day five.


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