How would you rather have me?
Between the words of a meter
Or in a misshapen form.
Fighting a war with syllables
Or ridden with adjectives
With allusions galore.
Do you like me in a rhyme?
Or prefer me not in a note
To a metrical song.
Do you want to sell me?
In the form of little pills
Of your lucid ideas,
To be consumed day and night?
Or want me running wild
Into the meadows of the unknown,
Hidden in a labyrinth
To be discovered
By men with searchlights
And women with hearts.
Who do you want me for?
Is it not just for you?
Do you wish to parade me?
On unknown streets
For the world to see
To set an example
And garner roses on your feet,
Laden with thorns of envy.
Perhaps you want to impress
A soul with a symphony,
Riddled with riddles of love
To elicit a muted response.
Do you want me served cold?
On a platter with knives,
Or want me bold
In a statement of the wise.
Perchance ages-old
Like the finest wine,
Or with sundry meanings
Hidden behind my wicked smile.
Maybe you want me easy
Like watching the sunrise,
Or hard to get
Up at the daybreak time.
Do you want me short?
Read and remembered
In this lifetime,
Or winding long,
To be forgotten when you die,
Become history for the world
To come back to
Often learn and wonder –
Who must have been
The poet?

What do I think?
I think you should ask me,
But you never do.