muse of the unread poet

he stares into the quiet,
an unread poet musing alone.
a errant phrase interrupts
the brush with silence.

faith and need compel him.
faith that scenes will form
and the need to create meaning.
otherwise, what's the point?

without words meaning is
shackled by quiet secrecy.
without faith words meander
unreconciled to meaning.

their constructions are limited
to the ordinary, rather than
unleashed to the extraordinary.
the poet unexpressed is no poet at all.

but the poet expressed may yet
become a poet read, staring
into the beauty around him,
creating with pen the worlds he sees.

18 May 2010 by Glen Alan Woods

Manuscript Transmission

manuscript evidence pleads its case
internally and externally.
fragments and whole texts cite the ebb and flow
of textual attestation by source witnesses.

internally and externally,
documented trails frame the contours
of textual attestation by source witnesses
as a mosaic of intricate parchments.

documented trails frame the contours,
with consistently cited witnesses of varying priority
as a mosaic of intricate parchments--
oh, to breathe the rarified air of sacred antiquity!

with consistently cited witnesses of varying priority
confirmed by credible versions and the fathers--
oh, to breathe the rarified air of sacred antiquity
faithfully transmitted by the early monastics.

confirmed by credible versions and the fathers,
fragments and whole texts cite the ebb and flow.
faithfully transmitted by the early monastics,
manuscript evidence pleads its case.

7 April 2007 by Glen Alan Woods

Rewrite

Torn from the pages of a book crafted long ago,
Words separated from their peers now search for home.
Sad yet hopeful for an outcome full of joyful news,
They begin their voyage for that place which once was known.

Myriad permutations of possibility,
Like trade winds from the east, propel their journey.
As dew forming silently on newly blossomed rose petals,
The words coalesce once again on new pages vibrantly.

January 24, 2007 by Glen Alan Woods