The Cage
by Sharon Portnoff
for Louis Zukofsky
Why did the poet stop singing to talk?
Surely the savagery
Warranted it
Taming the tiger, as it were,
Giving it the bit
And a poem stopped in the mouth
Why does one sing after all?
Caress the ear
Jump the ring in the path
Transform one's rage
From a roar to a call
What burns bright before the poet
Invites dark whispers in the helpless
A silent scream
Imagined from the cage
Copyright © 2017 by Sharon Portnoff.