Exaggerating Lyric

Short, ritualistic,

Hyperbolic is how

One writer classifies

The lyric components

Of game narrative art.

Leaving aside the games

As more significant,

Or most significant

Cultural endeavor—

Either games led language

Or language led to games—

Is this not intriguing

As three words to define

The lyric? Lyric as

Short, ritualistic,

And yet hyperbolic?

Well, exceptions abound,

Sure, but they always do.

Short, that’s the best-known claim,

The least interesting,

Even with exceptions.

Ritualistic, well,

That’s worth considering.

Even while differing,

The lyric traditions

Tend to strict ritual

Within their traditions

And their revolutions.

Still, that trait’s so diffused,

In and out of lyric,

It says far too little

About lyric per se.

Hyperbolic seems weird

And more fascinating.

Has anyone before

Suggested that lyric

Is an art uniquely

Hyperbolic, or is

A hyperbolic game?

Epic’s hyperbolic—

Opera, pro-wrestling,

Grand Guignol theater—

But lyric? Then again,

What lyric poem isn’t

Wild exaggeration?