Lines Composed While Leaning on the Guitar of His Crutch

Robert Lowell said of Dylan,

He leans too much upon the crutch

Of his guitar. Dylan still won

A Nobel prize, decades after

Robert Lowell died. Nonetheless,

However snooty, Lowell had

A point. Poetry without song,

Without accompanying tunes

Carried by well-played instruments,

 

Not even phrased to be chanted,

Has set itself a handicap.

There’s something thrilling to the work

Of making words move on their own,

Of letting them lurch for themselves,

Readers’ memories for crutches,

Imagining any guitars

The words may mention, pretending

Guitars you recall will strike chords.