“A Poetic Definition” by Rob MacWolf (read by Ta'kom Ironhoof)

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You’re listening to Poetry Month on The Voice of Dog.

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Today we present a poem by Rob MacWolf,

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co-writer of Mare Solatium,

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a Visual Novel, and whose stories you can find in anthologies

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from the Furry Historical Fiction Society,

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as well as on his SoFurry gallery.

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Read by Ta’kom Ironhoof,

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the Equine Charmer. Please enjoy

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“A Poetic Definition”,

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a poem by Rob MacWolf

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There are schools of thought where thinking must needs

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work like thin magnetics,

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Aligning every glittering gear with every last ball-bearing,

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So that the world is

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dissected by 'if and only' statements

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To categories perfect,

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and to crystal clear declensions.

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But these are not the only orthodoxy we've invented,

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And mother nature does not write

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in dictionary dryness.

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So many things cross over,

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as in limina-like haunting,

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From one sphere to another,

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quite unconscious of the border.

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So thus the poor philosopher,

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confounded by plucked chicken.

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So thus the gender binary is broken into spectrum.

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So thus the evolutioning,

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through fire and love and hunger,

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From wolf upon the frozen steppes

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to squeaky bone and walkies.

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I would not look for poetry in any definition.

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But in the density of truth constraint

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of form imposes, Like carbonated soda bottle,

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contents under pressure,

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Like oak limbs grown thrice thicker,

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from holding up the ivy,

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Like depth of feeling shown

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but by the effort to contain it.

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For even in free verse,

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the plain truth that plain prose speaks plainly

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Is crystalized, is sanctified,

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to a mosaic icon.

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And does the halo make the icon?

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Or the jeweled letters?

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The colors of the tesserae?

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The linden wood unblemished?

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The weeks of prayer and fasting before brush

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may meet with palate?

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Or is it in enthronement

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in the shrine or sanctuary

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That painting or mosaic

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or stained glass

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becomes an icon? This was “A Poetic Definition”

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by Rob MacWolf, read for you by READER, with CALLSIGN.

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Thank you for listening

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to The Voice of Dog.