For S.S.
Well known unwritten protocols insist
On generosity, however mild.
One never growls “Dear friend, please, please desist!
Your hapless, somber verse leaves art defiled.”
The editors (kind, always) never say:
“Your poems just stink—please, please why don’t you quit?
Your fumbling words convey an ass’s bray.”
Their rejects purr “Quite nice, but don’t quite fit.”
My wincing friends respond “My fav’rite lines
Are E and F”—they never say “You bore.”
And recently, one editor opined,
“Two of your verses really struck a chord.”
Which chord? A flared C major CRESCENDO,
Or B flat minor diminuendo?
(6/3/13)