Throughout the world great poets wrote
Of life, of death, of nature raw.
Their songs emit a cutting note,
An observation we can draw,
Or take us for a pleasant ride
Along the paths of quietude,
Or see things from the other side -
Third eye viewing, darker mood.

If we stay open to their words,
The nuance and the space between,
With truth, inspired, the heart accords.
Enriched we rise above the mean.

So, thank you, Shelly, thank you, Keats -
You died so young yet left so much.
Thank you, Shakespeare, for the meat
That feeds our minds, our lives you touch.

Thanks, Longfellow for the gentle
Moralising through your trails.
Thank you, Chaucer for the mental
Stretch of Canterbury Tales.

Thank you, Dickinson for being
Rapier-minded in your verses.
Thanks, Lord Tennyson for seeing
How the natural world converses.

This humble tribute is my way
Of honouring the verbal craft
That poets grind at day by day
To gild the mind and lift the heart.