The poet endures

The poet endures

The poet endures
While morning birds swoop and dive
The world collapsing
To their glorious birdsong

The poet endures
While dry spring flowers
Sob in a plastic cup
On the breakfast bar

The poet endures
While the lonely housewife
Longs for feigned love
On the empty bedroom set

The poet endures
While the lights shut off
The pilot goes out
When the old house must be shuttered or sold

The poet endures
While romance strains
Standing naked in the bathroom mirror
Admiring its own flawed form

The poet endures
While natural light seeps in
The beauty of a rising star
Warming the paint on the walls

The poet endures
While the summer novel sells
And the true artist starves for the craft
In complete anonymity

The poet endures
While the poem loses its danger
Overrun by studious lines
Absent the raw hunger of the tortured

The poet endures
While searching for a single thread
A loose but divine connection
To an immortal soul