Tribute To John Clare Poem by David Haldeman

Bullseye

Time winged away and left this man behind,
A 'Lesser Poet' to the most of us.
Why, my Lit. Teacher, normally inclined
To sympathy, got rid of him without a fuss.
I had forgotten him, and what he wrote
Til, browsing in an old bookstore one day,
I came across 'To Mary', and it smote
Me right across the soul--how else to say
It, when one little verse bored deep inside
Me, healed or put old musty fears to rout,
Touched depths unplumbed, and from their settings pried
A host of troubles and a cloud of doubt?
Call this poet Minor; snub, or reprimand--
His Love for Mary is a thing I understand....

Ray Romine