Celebration (poem)

Celebration

I celebrate writers who
are dead. They don't need
charisma. They don't peddle
books after readings or
have a Facebook page.

The longer dead, the better.
A man can do worse than
read Greek classics the rest
of his days. Far worse.

Dead authors speak over time
as if time did not matter.
If they don't, they quickly
are forgotten and truly
dead. I celebrate writers
who speak living words from
the grave. There are many.

Forget the lists and the clubs
(Pound said never join
a Book Club!) and the hype
and the awards and the prizes
and tune your own ear to
your own frequency -- and
when you find it, keep
the power on, keep the
power on. And listen.

--Charles Deemer