Better to Weep - edit

[busker]

Better to Weep


To see dried blood upon a handkerchief
reminds us we are not composed of dust
as poets and star-gazers share belief
but, as a plumber knows, of wet and rust.  great opening stanza and this line is, for me, the poem.

Red hearts and lips may symbolize true love
in flower, as the poppy posits sleep;  'poppy posits sleep' sounds faux Elizabethan
affection, somnolence, addictive trove
of past perfection only fools may keep.   S2 sounds put on, a museum piece. Doesn't do justice to S1

For those alive to danger crimson speaks
of hemoglobin rich with oxygen
spilled wildly or through suicidal leaks
by lovers lacking cynics’ antigen.  ... same as previous

Be brave, my love, let tears flow if you must
instead of anguished blood, that lust of rust. ... the 'lust of rust' rhyme has a weakly comical effect, which is out of place. Also, the repetition of 'rust' doesn't do it for me.

The first stanza is good, the rest of the poem doesn't do justice to it. Might need some iterations.