One Word Of Hope Poem by Kurt Philip Behm

I'd rather write the truest book
for just one man to read

Than draft that one of mass appeal,
—to blush but never bleed

I'd rather speak that one great line
to a canyon vast and wide

Than forever to recite mundane
what an audience will comply

I'd rather die a poet's death
than an actors out on loan

I'd rather live within myself
than in crowds where I'm alone

I'd rather give my last few breaths
to that child at my knee

And leave with him one word of hope,
—that he may then set free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August,2016)