Keith G. Balser


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Olde School

Use musty old expressions if thou must
To emulate the poets of the past—
But thou shouldst not o’erdo it if thou dost,

Lest readers be entirely nonplussed
By all the “dosts” and “doests” that thou hast.
Use musty old expressions if thou must

Encase thy verse in this archaic crust
(e.g., with “vasty” used in place of “vast”)
But thou shouldst not o’erdo it if thou dost

Dread an editor’s red-pen rapier-thrust:
If thou say’st “shouldst,” rejection cometh fast.
Use musty old expressions if thou must

Insist, as ‘twere, on Shakespeare’s plaster bust
Being the mold wherein thy verse is cast.
(But thou shouldst not o’erdo it.) If thou dost

Dust musty words off, thou wilt earn disgust
When critics read thy retro reams aghast.
Use musty old expressions if thou must—
But thou shouldst not o’erdo it if thou dost.

Keith G. Balser is a retired copy editor and freelance writer, originally from Long Island, currently residing in Northeast Florida. His preferred poetic forms are the sonnet and villanelle. He is finalizing a book of 200 love poems.