No one has done it better than Villon
whose fame is justly recognized
but does this mean
you have to be a criminal
imprisoned
pardoned and later
sentenced to be hanged
then disappear
with no one knowing where
or how you met your end?

Poetry and crime
it's worth considering
if what you're after is a name
to last the centuries
like Villon or his contemporary
Thomas Malory
whose tales of Lancelot and Guinevere
the knights of the Round Table
and the quest
for that most precious relic
the Holy Grail
inspire us still
Malory whose prose is poetry
also commited crimes
and wrote his work
Le Morte d'Arthur
while under lock and key
but as for me
even had I such powers
of creation
I'd choose this bland
and largely innocent
domestic life
and settle for obscurity
rather than risk
the wrath of kings and constables
and I would leave as my
some lines that witness only
to my love of flowers
of birds and critters
children's faces
family scenes
less thrilling
but a celebration nonetheless
of what I like to think
we all hold dear
and even more so when
the end is near