Vox Populi
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Baron Wormser: The Shuffle
Lost my soul in the shuffle.
Got a self instead.
Not a fair deal, not even-Steven,
Not Roger-dodger.
Moped. Nattered. Felt half-dead,
Though why did such fey items matter?
Wasn’t a carrot or a baseball or a tree.
Couldn’t trade it for a car,
Though, in the old tales
Before cars, various shifty characters
Swapped souls for knowledge
And temporal power.
Over centuries
The terms of the game change.
Centuries do that. Scour. Wipe.
You might as well argue with oblivion.
Still, there’s that lingering longing,
The cry of the inner sea,
The housing of infinity.
Copyright 2022 Baron Wormser
Baron Wormser founded the Conference on Poetry and Teaching. Wormser’s forthcoming book is titled The History Hotel (CavanKerry Press, Spring 2023).
Vox Populi 
Baron: So much in a few lines, “Centuries.of time…… ”
“lost my soul …… ” Lingering longing…. ” Each time I read it I find new emotions. Thank you or providing that.
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Thanks, Ann. I’m amazed at how much soul-work is contained in this poem, and yet the language remains playful.
M.
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It’s so amazing what we think we’ve lost when it’s there all the time. Love the poem!
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Thanks, Joyce. I do too.
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Such a surprising change in tone — from the lighthearted to the deeply human. Good poem, good poem!
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The interesting opening stanza functions like a bait.
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… The cry of the inner sea,
The housing of infinity.
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Beautiful. Thanks, Marina.
M. Michael Simms https://www.michaelsimms.info https://www.michaelsimms.info/
Author of Bicycles of the Gods https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09ZYTM9J5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1 Author of Nightjar https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933974435/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2 Author of American Ash https://www.amazon.com/American-Ash-Poems-Michael-Simms/dp/1933974397/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PC9VWO127ZSF&dchild=1&keywords=american+ash+by+michael+simms&qid=1593969710&s=books&sprefix=American+ash,aps,133&sr=1-1 Editor of Vox Populi https://voxpopulisphere.com/
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