Thursday, May 11, 2023

A Dying Art

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

A Dying Art

 

I’ve always been attracted

to the dying arts

The arts for which society

no longer has a need

The arts that do not give

(they say) but only take

The arts that are sustained

by the generosity of patrons

The arts that have lost all relevance

in the modern techno world

 

Those who presume to know

The vagabonds of culture

The vultures at the door – but

never on the stage – have proclaimed

the death of the theater since

the time of Moliere

The holders of the poison pen

who have so often tried and failed

in the artform of their choosing have

declared in good time and bad faith

the end of the short story,

the death of the literary novel,

the demise of romantic verse,

the extinction of free-form poetry,

the inevitable decline of the written

word itself in all its transmutations

and yet the arts are still here

 

The theater has survived

a thousand slings and arrows

Poetry has survived the dumbing

down of the spoken word

Literature has thrived by paving

new avenues of expression

 

As Sam Clemens famously said:

Rumors of my demise are

greatly exaggerated

 

The arts in all its varied forms

will live as long as civilization exists

 


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