Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SOLILOQUIES OF A SMALL-TOWN TAXI-DRIVER: ON THE EMOTIONS, by EDGAR BARRATT



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SOLILOQUIES OF A SMALL-TOWN TAXI-DRIVER: ON THE EMOTIONS, by                    
First Line: Every poet ought to write about the great emotions
Last Line: According to the rearview mirror.
Subject(s): Love


Every poet ought to write about the great emotions:
Love, hate, fear, etc.
I don't know so much about the others
But a taxi-driver learns a lot about love.

Of course,
Writing about love is a good deal like
Kissing yourself in a mirror:
More reflection than emotion.
But I have seen that it has a great effect
On some people and makes them so brave
They are willing to go out
And hunt bears with a fly-swatter.

Love is like water:
It is so common that the most of us
Don't miss it until it ain't there
And then it is a very important thing
And people raise a lot of hell about it.

But if there is too much of it around
It busts out and raises lots of hell with people.

And if they were smart out at the college
They would put in an engineering course
In love because I heard a prof say
"The Engineering College
Dealt with the great forces"
And if there is anything more forceful
Than a drunk with a beer bottle
Making jungle love to his wife,
It is the same wife with a beer bottle
Working on her opposition.
That is love.

And if the fellow in the front seat
Doesn't know how love works
He is blind or the rearview mirror is busted
Because that looks back on life for sure.

That mirror is what showed me
That love is necessary to happiness.
And if I had a daughter
I would send her to college
So she could learn nine different ways
To say, "Honey, you are the
Most wonderful man in the world."
And the sucker would believe her
And try to prove it
Which would make them both many dollars
And cinch much happiness
According to the rearview mirror.





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