Dying to be Great

Sassoon’s outlived them all

Into mediocrity

Wilfred died a martyr

To stupidity

Writing words so true.

Graves carried over

Started anew

Sassoon outlived them all

Into mediocrity

Into acclaim

From ferocious

Into the grey of tame.

I too am dying to be great

But to do so one has to die

So I hesitate

So I criticize

And theorize

And philosophize

I seek the permanence of the word

How it survives

When the writer is gone, no longer alive.

So I contemplate and ape.

Be less than great,

As I attempt to duplicate

The genius of the dead.

Alas, dying to be great.