Classic Poem

Poetry has been
delicate crystal
preciously placed
quaint curio, glass and brass
the far right corner
pedestal and candle
high above the mantle
fine for show and
after dinner chit-chat
champagne and caviar but
so awkwardly
out of reach
impossibly difficult to
take down
grit and fingernail
where
a tattered page
corners cut
to mark
great passages.


(Previously published in The Alley, May 2001)