Tom Zimmerman's The Horse That Over My Green Shoes Asserts Its Power

This train-chain of lyrical cargo chugs across blocky stanzas with such force it's easy to miss during a first read-through that the message is less than complimentary to its ostensible paragon. One code will have to suffice here:



"Forget going gentle into that cold grave
Unless your rage upsets the chaplain.
Consider those who live on and suffer.
Kin and strangers will muffle your virtue,
Denying any closeness, denying their debts,
Those liquid and future when eulogies track maudlin.
Hand back your will with major renovations
On forty minor points, and note well the notary
Miming like a dormant dentist.
Answer to no one but tend to your molars
So the grind of your life lives on on the page."



Tom Zimmerman may never acquire the rapid bibulous ascent of the reading-tour virtuoso, but The Horse That Over My Green Shoes Asserts Its Power is nevertheless a powerful reminder that imitation is the sincerest form of servitude.