Second Edit: For a Radical, Long Dead/For Dawn Fraser, a Radical

[nibbed]

Hi Richard, lemme take a look:


For a Radical, Long Dead

I
My dear dead poet,
you would be more important
if you were
an ancient red vase.

Then people would ponder your cracks,
debate the significance of your colour,
and label you an artifact.                                                           is it important to be labeled an artifact?
                                                                                                 should poets (dead or alive) be just a thing, like a vase?
II
You chose the losing side.
So now, your verse is discarded:
removed from a dusty shelf by a librarian                                   interesting it was a dusty shelf...
trying to make room,
his hands spite-less in their choice.
Then comes the bottom of a box at a garage sale,
followed by more indifference.
This ends by being misplaced
next to a cookbook at a thrift store.

III
You championed workers                                                           these two lines seem defensive, but contradictory
and cursed capitalism
like it was a demon pricing souls.

You lost your war,
but still influenced me:
I can now see the invisible monster                                            why is a dead poet an invisible monster?
that chased me from my home.



I feel as though there is some mystery
of someone being bullied by another, but I am not sure.
I enjoy your writing.
I hope all is well...
janine