! If Only! Poem by moon batchelder

if only my poetry
soothed like a balm
if only the verses
rehearsd in my mind
as if an elixir
could do more than calm
or turn clever phrases
or end in a rhyme.

if only these similies
opened a door,
if only personifications
revealed
much more than the genius
of smooth metaphors,
prescriptions i've written
might finally heal.

if only these lyrics,
the sonnets, haiku
or lowly iambic pentameter
might
suffice for a remedy
wrongs to undo,
then purpose provided
for verses i write.

still, only to pen them
and show them about,
or be known as their author,
seems impotent crime.
unless there be benefit
worth is in doubt.
a poem should do more than
just sound good, or rhyme.