Its use is not a burden but a clue
There’s something after it, or me, or you.
Rhyme can also make hot arguments
Hop along, less hot, or harsh, or sad;
Or, bind some disparate thoughts, as if they had
A common quality of resonance.
Young boys may have their soldiers, girls their dolls,
But plastic playmates make for lonely souls;
Twins have each other, though, and the delight
Of tickling each other’s feet all night,
Even the thought of which might be enough
To thwart, in part, the flesh-inflicted curse
Suggesting things are here to share, like love,
A night, a couplet, or the universe.
About James B. Nicola
James B. Nicola is a frequent contributor to Wild Violet. His six full-length collections are Manhattan Plaza (2014), Stage to Page (2016), Wind in the Cave (2017), Out of Nothing: Poems of Art and Artists (2018), Quickening: Poems from Before and Beyond (2019), and Fires of Heaven: Poems of Faith and Sense (2021). His decades of working in the theater as a stage director, composer, lyricist, playwright, and acting teacher culminated in the nonfiction book Playing the Audience: The Practical Guide to Live Performance, which won a Choice award. A Yale grad, he hosts the Hell's Kitchen International Writers' Roundtable at his library branch in Manhattan: walk-ins welcome. Website: <a href="James B. Nicola is a frequent contributor to Wild Violet. His six full-length collections are Manhattan Plaza (2014), Stage to Page (2016), Wind in the Cave (2017), Out of Nothing: Poems of Art and Artists (2018), Quickening: Poems from Before and Beyond (2019), and Fires of Heaven: Poems of Faith and Sense (2021). His decades of working in the theater as a stage director, composer, lyricist, playwright, and acting teacher culminated in the nonfiction book Playing the Audience: The Practical Guide to Live Performance, which won a Choice award. A Yale grad, he hosts the Hell's Kitchen International Writers' Roundtable at his library branch in Manhattan: walk-ins welcome. sites.google.com/site/jamesbnicola
