An Immortality Poem by Barry Middleton

'Sing we for love and idleness,
Naught else is worth the having'.
From: An Immorality by Ezra Pound

if there is such a thing as love
no immorality accrues to it

the poet surely raised an eyebrow
smiled and touched his chin

to know how clever he had been
to write a testament to love

spinning some Victorian fashion
for the confusion in the title

or were the far off eastern lands
so easily had compared to love

and thus he wishes death on roses
in trade for sweet wine kisses

like many men who seek that kiss
in lieu of money, fame or conquest

and least of all the deeds of war
whose only victory is in longing

it may be the immorality is there
in war, where roses die, and men