|
Edmund
by
David
W. Landrum
Why
bastard? wherefore
base?
----King Lear
Why
must I suffer
for my father’s
sin?
I
am demeaned, as
if I did the deed
myself,
fathered myself
and ushered in
my
own existence
through my misspent
seed.
They
call me bastard,
base—what
logic saw
the
hapless offspring
of a furtive act
as
guilty of the
crime? It seems
such law
is
injudicious and
after the fact.
Despite
what custom says,
I am derived
as
well as anyone
legitimate.
And
yet by custom
I must be deprived
of
titles while my
brother is set
up
the
Duke of Gloucester
. Come you gods—command
your
powers and, this
day, for bastards
stand.
©
2007 by David
W. Landrum
|
|
|
|
About the Author
David
W. Landrum
is Professor of
Humanities at
Cornerstone University
in Western Michigan
. His poetry has
appeared in numerous
journals and magazines,
including The
Formalist, The
New Formalist,
The Barefoot Muse,
Web Del Sol, and
many others. His
articles and fiction
have appeared
in Twentieth-Century
Literature, Philological
Quarterly, Amarillo
Bay, Loch Raven
Review. His chapbook,
Identities, is
available at:
http://www.formalpoetry.com/
ebooks/landrum.html.
He
is also the editor
of a new online
journal,
Lucid
Rhythms.
|
|
