Have you noticed, and possibly you haven’t
Since you are so, so lucky
Perhaps your only experience with outside
Is walking from your air-conditioned car into Starbucks  

There are no children on the streets
Playing tag, riding bikes, pulling hair, throwing balls
The modern, cool, plugged in world
Has eliminated all this and more
 
Like poetry
Nobody reads poetry anymore
If a few and dwindling number of teachers didn’t make their students
Who would know poetry even existed?
Of these
Most assign a value less than valueless  

Poetry, like cursive or going outside or politeness
Vanished in that time we didn’t even watch go by

Luddites who have developed an affectation for poetry
Use their fetish as a way of separating
Declaring nobility, insight, depth to any who will listen
(No one outside the self-selected club ever hears)
(Most never even knew sounds were made)  

Today’s “great” poets aren’t great for what they write
But what they look like
Or who they knew when
Or that their words may be used by those in power
Or those who want to be