Read Poem: “And In This Corner” by Rob McLean

How do I introduce a poem? Let me count the ways.
One. With dramatic flourish, commanding voice accompanied by a
flurry of trumpets, a clash of cymbals, or should I say symbolism…
I step into the spotlight and proclaim…
Ladies and Gentlemen! Children of all ages! Please turn your attention
to the center ring and witness…Ode On A Grecian Urn!
Two. Maybe a sporting theme?
And in this corner in the white trunks weighing in at ten thousand lines
of verse! Putting the iambic back into pentameter…Paradise Lost!
Three. Perhaps a more sombre and severe pronouncement of the
arrival of the poem…
As I stand here today, I humbly request that you welcome to this
modest podium…The Wreck of the Hesperus.
But then you may ask does the poem need such a grand entrance of the
gladiators?
That perhaps a more casual and low-key approach would be more
suited…
Hey everybody, meet Brown Penny.
It makes one wonder if the poem even requires an introduction?
The poem has no ego. (This is not a discussion about the poet.)
And the poem is much stronger than the poet. For the poet is mortal,
but the poem, immortal.
Not marble nor the gilded monuments, Of princes shall outlive this
powerful rhyme.
Yes, the poet may die of consumption in a drafty garret…
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of
the light.
But the poem lives on.
And lives on in many forms. Yes, all sonnets are poems, but not all
poems are sonnets.
So, I find my task of introducing the poem to be daunting.
But I should not worry, for the poem does not need me.
It lives. It breathes. It thrives.
Why, just the other day, I saw a mullet-haired redneck in a T- top Trans
Am listening to Free Verse on his 8 –track.
Or was that Free Bird?

Author: poetryfest

Submit your Poetry to the Festival. Three Options: 1) To post. 2) To have performed by an actor 3) To be made into a film. View all posts by poetryfest