Let-Down

You told me 
To let you be. 
Did you really 
Say so? 
I thought I'd heard 
Words of love 
Hiding beneath 
Your serious smile. 
The coldness 
You'd been wearing 
Was so fake, 
You'd blushed 
As soon as I came in. 
No -- you said -- 
I have my status, 
My position -- 
You cause me 
Indisposition, 
Just because 
You fear your heart.

Sara Trevisan's questions:

1) is it too simple? too naive? That is what I felt, though.

2) Is poetry without any lexical density, with just common terms too childish?

3) can't ideas be expressed fully by just using simple words?


Editor's Note: We receive many, many poems in this vein: the dissing of a lover by another and the resulting agony and self-loathing. We post this one for your consideration because it goes beyond tortured self-absorption, and raises issues of status and class. Furthermore, the author's questions accompanying this poem raise some questions applicable to all poetry. Sara, we hope the lover stubs his toe.