New Zealand Poetry Magazine –

"The Personas of a Poet" by Hope Cotton

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Title image shows a mountain and trees reflected in a lake at sunset.

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Published May 15th, 2024

The Personas of a Poet

by Hope Cotton

I am a glutton, a hedonist.
         I'll feast on joyous tribulations,
And sit abreast happy memories,
                   Like a dragon with its horde.
I pen poems, serenade myself with songs,
                             And dream of Aphrodite during delirious slumber.

I am a fool, a knave.
         I'll dive down the depths of my emotion.
With no logic or regard.
                   Drowning is dizzying, splendid.
I'll brave Dante's fires for feelings' sake.
                             In my heart's cacophony, I rarely think.

I am a liar, a thief.
         I begin tales singing superfluous monologues.
Though I've foreseen their end.
                   I pretend, and paint pretty pictures,
I'll grasp your heart gladly.
                             I am an actor, a conwoman.
I piece together pretty prose.
                                       I weave words, scatter synonyms, meld metaphors,

                                                 Keeping you too far, and far too close.


About the Poet
Hope Cotton resides in Wellington, New Zealand.
Read the poet's biography on Hope Cotton's Artist Page.

This poem is collected in Poetry World #9, published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.

Previously published in New Zealand Poetry Magazine:
Too Chicken

by Ellen Walker

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