Outwitted

He drew a circle that shut me out—

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in!

An old favorite poem of mine, and until this very minute I would have sworn it was by Emily Dickinson.  But I checked to make sure - and come to find out, it's by a Californian named Edwin Markham (1852-1940), who also wrote this:

Poetry writing is as practical as bread-making; and, from a high ground, it is just as necessary to the life of man. Poetry is bread for the spirit: it is the bread that is made of earthly wheat and yet is mixed with some mystic tincture of the skies. It nourishes all the higher hopes and aspirations of man.

In our day, of course, poetry has been replaced by pop songs, some of which do approach poetic heights - and some not.

Startling thought:  Imagine if some of them old boys - like Whitman, say - had been able to make music videos. . . .English class might not a-been so boring, huh?