"Poetry Reading (Explanation 1)" & "Hollow Notes" by R. Gerry Fabian

Poetry Reading

(Explanation 1)

Everyone expects a poem to rhyme

at some time

or another.

My brother

blames it on those creatures -

English teachers.

I don’t!

I won’t!

Rather let me say, the poem

begins to roam

while most people stay at home.

It would be easy

and kind of sleazy

for me

to blame TV.

Let me just say

that today

poems don’t have the time

to rhyme.

So don’t get upset

just let

your mind

find

the pulse in the words,

just like flocking birds,

you see

poems are wild and free.

Hollow Notes

In Philadelphia

for the third day

of an I.R.S. audit,

I visit the Liberty Bell

during the lunch break.

About to lose

My shirt

and with nowhere

to turn,

I suddenly realize

that this bell

ain’t all

it’s cracked up to be.

R. Gerry Fabian is a poet and novelist. He has published four books

of his published poems, Parallels, Coming Out Of The Atlantic,

Electronic Forecasts and Wildflower Women as well as his poetry

baseball book, Ball On The Mound.