Tribute to the poetry of tradition. I’m an art student. I’m blowin’ the lid off poetry. I can’t get poetry right to save my life. If you study poetry you’ll get it. It’s just about our choice words, painting things right. I dare my pen. Let’s follow some tradition, and I’ve exposed poetry to be in the lair of predicament, every syllable counted and every i dotted. Someone on the internet will like it. These Germans, they like system and order.
Picked her brother apart, except that Skeptic’s Kaddish fella, who goes around publicly and discerns poetry, and he can make you meet poetry in a formula. It’s not weathered beat. It’s not the formula he’s lookin’ at. It’s his heart and matter. There’s a haiku, or a whatchamacallit he’s discovered that no one’s ever heard about. A poet has these easels, and he makes them shine with the testimony of word.
He passes the feeling test. He goes beyond words into something else. How elusive it is to say. You know you’ve met a poem, but let’s hand it to ‘im will yah? David Daylight, ben Alexander, measured right everybody call home.
You can’t find this on paper. It’s in the poet’s test, what he meets inside himself to write the poem, a sensibility in time that’s brought him world after world of be the horseman in the room. He moves humanity along in great waves of identification and another brand of thinking that goes for the goal of everything, its reach and purpose in time, how the world was made and why, and can I be pretty in it?
Every little thing is a poet’s mule, the suddenness of his mile (the traditional lift to pronoun stutters my feet), not to figure out and keep, to brandish science in the room or the philosopher with his stone. We must show them to you as they are with their mystery still behind them made greater by the sacrifice but revealed in the paradox of life. Oh my great big friend David thank you. You’re the bravest man alive.
Donny, your tribute left me speechless. Thank you for capturing the heart of what I strive for in my poetry and my life. You’ve woven together tradition, creativity, and the soul of what it means to truly engage with words.
Your recognition of the balance between precision and heart in poetry—”every syllable counted” but driven by “heart and matter”—feels deeply resonant. You’ve given voice to the journey I take every time I pick up my pen.
The way you frame poetry as something both disciplined and transcendent, and how you call attention to the paradoxes we live and write, is a testament to your own depth as an artist.
Thank you for seeing me, my work, and the heart behind it. You honor me with your words, and I’m grateful to call you a friend and a fellow traveler on this poetic path. Would you mind if I share this piece on my blog too?
From one poet to anther, you are simply amazing both as a poet and a human being. You have the depth of sight that lasts lifetimes and has enriched mine.
Donny Lee Duke, you write the words that I could never find to express how I feel about this poet and human being. Thank you for this magnificent poem and tribute to David, the maestro. Without him I should not be attempting to write poetry. He is my mentor. 🙏 🌹
Harm's End 
Donny, your tribute left me speechless. Thank you for capturing the heart of what I strive for in my poetry and my life. You’ve woven together tradition, creativity, and the soul of what it means to truly engage with words.
Your recognition of the balance between precision and heart in poetry—”every syllable counted” but driven by “heart and matter”—feels deeply resonant. You’ve given voice to the journey I take every time I pick up my pen.
The way you frame poetry as something both disciplined and transcendent, and how you call attention to the paradoxes we live and write, is a testament to your own depth as an artist.
Thank you for seeing me, my work, and the heart behind it. You honor me with your words, and I’m grateful to call you a friend and a fellow traveler on this poetic path. Would you mind if I share this piece on my blog too?
Much love,
David
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From one poet to anther, you are simply amazing both as a poet and a human being. You have the depth of sight that lasts lifetimes and has enriched mine.
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🤗 😘
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Donny Lee Duke, you write the words that I could never find to express how I feel about this poet and human being. Thank you for this magnificent poem and tribute to David, the maestro. Without him I should not be attempting to write poetry. He is my mentor. 🙏 🌹
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If it were not for him, I would not be continuing to write poetry right now. He picked me up at just the right moment.
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He is inspirational—with a remarkable knack for kindness and encouragement.
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