RECONSTRUCTED FABLE

This poem
has been replaced by another,
one better conceived
and executed with firmer resolve
and a sharper rhyme scheme.

These words
get to the heart of the matter
faster and brighter
and don’t dilly dally
so much
in the process.

This is the one.
This is the final draft
the appropriate revision.
This is the piece
that will make all the difference
– not the last one
with its sad allusions
of crying clowns
and joyous invalids.
This is the stanza
that will go the distance.

This concoction
is it.
This art is complete
and all others
simply practice runs.
This is completion.
This is totality.
This’ll do, finally.

This
is the end.