The Sophist Enslaved by Convention

Peter Bethanis

He cannot turn back; will not look back.

He is the misunderstood ogre that waits

For love. His marriage was an elegant

Disaster, a dirigible bumping night fog

To flames. To be a poet is to shun

A life of certain values. You need to walk

Barefoot along a razorblade.

Divorce, a scar long as an eel,

He’s a regular Quasimodo.

His future uncertain, pensive, yet dull

To any acts of notoriety or heroism,

Just one more conventional fly-by-night poet

Thinking he is more profound than he is,

He walks with little understanding of art, medicine, the law,

Like a pebble in a sandal before the Visigoths

Sack Rome.

Peter Bethanis is a writer and artist who has published in numerous literary journals, including Tar River Poetry, The Wallace Stevens Journal, and America. He has also been a featured poet in Poetry Magazine and was a finalist for the National Poetry Series. His work has been published by former US Poet Laureate Donald Hall and James Dickey. He is the author of two books, American Future and Dada and Surrealism for Beginners. His art has appeared in several galleries and shows and has recently appeared in the HCE Review (University College Dublin). You can view images of his work here: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/peter-bethanis.html.