Plato

Thank you

for not including us in

your revolutionary city project

for not letting us play a tune

recite poetry

or prose

write a line

utter an alphabetical letter

or even breathe

Thank you

for not permitting us to build a home 

open a store

till the land

grow wheat olives willows

or roses

Thank you

for not granting us membership in

the Republican Party

for not allowing poets to open

an account

in the bank of your great state

or become members in your exclusive club

of the rational

Thank you

for sentencing us to exile

contrary to poets' rights...

And so we came out  

narrating and imitating

that we may not dry in that painting

within your walls

Thank you...