What Does Romantic Poetry Do? Poem by Denis Martindale

In a short span, poetry reaches towards the eyes and ears
and meanders towards the human mind
and from that labryinthian task presses on,
via the very blood itself, towards the human heart,
then warms it with exquisite and yet delicate sentiments,
till overwhelming it with the uttermost love,
the greatest and best it can offer to a fellow human being,
if that human being is ready, willing and able to love in turn.
Else, the journey through words to phrases,
to sentences to exclamation marks,
would prove to be in vain, rather than in vein.
So follow the trail of poetry towards the human heart,
for there's no other way to love...


Denis Martindale 2018.