Tuesday, April 28, 2009

"Poetry's Value"

       "Poetry's Value"
     
                    by Xi Murong
 
       If you ask me abruptly
       Why write poetry
       Why not do
       Something useful
 
       Then I won't know  
       How to answer you
       I am like a goldsmith hammering day and night
       Just so I can extend pain
       Into a gold ornament as thin as a cicada's wing
 
       I don't know if working so hard
       To transform sorrows into
       Shimmering words and phrases
       Is also
       Beautifully worthwhile
 
                      Maureen Whalen