Do we have to dance with madness
in order to create?
I have enjoyed her dips and twirls,
but I’m quite tired of late.
We pour our words on paper,
or on the flickering screen,
detailing all the heartbreaks
we’ve heard of, felt, and seen.
Our words show the blackness of souls
and the soaring light of hope.
Bringing readers word-by-word, line-by-line,
a frame of mind that lets them cope.
We’ve watched sane leaders bluster, shout, pose and lie,
but perhaps it’s mad poets who will save humankind.
Bio: Karen Southall Watts is a speaker, coach, and consultant living in North Carolina. Her works have been featured in multiple online publications, as well as the collections “Letters I’ll Never Send,” “The North Carolina Bards Poetry Anthology 2023,” “The North Carolina Bards 2024 Anthology,” and the upcoming “Gathering 2024 Anthology.” Karen is a three-time Pushcart nominee for poetry. Her poetry chapbook, “Desire, Dreams and Dust” was released in April of 2023.
