What Are They Mad About?
My only hand in a poem is when
inspiration ceases
and inspiration is the luck of a laboring talent
Mahmoud Darwish

Are all poets exiled rebels
against tyrannical devils?
They are compelled to agitate
against establishments they hate.
But love is the guiding factor
in the freedoms they are after.
Mankind is never the enemy,
it is the bonds of tyranny.
Tyranny of majority
is a newer philosophy.
As a heretic among friends
his love for creatures never ends.
He doesn’t hate men, the tyrants,
or their fawning sycophants.
He has a love for everyone
despite the evils they have done.
Putting together words in rhymes
may seem trivial sometimes
but poets are people like us
and it’s our problems they discuss.


Walt Abbott–6-30-2009