Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE EDICT, by NATHALIA CRANE



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE EDICT, by                    
First Line: Write, said the editor unto the saint
Last Line: So they will read it -- and read it again.
Subject(s): Writing & Writers


Write, said the editor unto the saint,
Something all dripping with paradise paint,
Something to jazzle and dazzle and please,
Something of kneeling and beautiful knees.

You write the story and I'll write the head,
Margin to margin the copy we'll spread --
Never a blue pencil fussing a sheet --
We'll make a story to sling at the street.

Load it with red-headed peppers and thyme,
Seek not to cincture an innocent rhyme.
Touch all your visions with life's accolade,
Only in telling, oh, be not afraid.

Sing of a Jezabel flung from a tower,
Sing of a Lesbia looting a flower,
Sing of a Sappho and detail each thrall,
Finally Phryne who walked on them all.

Make it as coarse as a cobblestone fight,
Make it as sweet as an old man's delight,
Put in the pallor and strawberry stain
So they will read it -- and read it again.





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