Judge Me

"Don't judge,
lest ye be judged."
So the parable goes.

But if you avoid judgment,
you'll never know,
if your poetry ebbs,
or if it flows.

I say, "Judge Me".
Don't avert your eyes,
if your thought's unkind.
Do you think this the first time?

No!

As a teen set asunder,
my political opponent put under,
by the words from my quill.
First in written prose,
then in oratory skill.

Yes, the basket hero,
with his scholarship paid,
slain in his prime.
Black ointment,white fly.

It was nothing personal,
I liked Kurt a lot.
But if you don't challenge them,
what kind of friends have you got?

So, set your sights on me,
onto nothing hold.
But, give me real judgment,
not a jealous pose.

The pettiness from haters,
will do nothing.
My rhymes will keep coming,
like the stench of sulfur from a hot spring.

Remember, poetry is our art,
handle it with care.
But, not with the disdain of an opinion undared.

For it is beauty we serve.
And, if my beauty is ugly to you,
then tell your truth.

Just not as a connoisseur,
observing from the side.
Expose me a fraud with your beauty,
don't let your poetry hide.