Binary Tree Poetry

After hard drive crashes and myriad other technological catastrophes, I've lost a hell of a lot of writing over the past few years. Yesterday, though, Dean managed to unearth some of my old stuff (The earliest of which was written over ten years ago!), which had me alternately cringing and snickering over the musings of my past self.

The good news is, I think I've improved over time, thank God. The bad news is, evidently I used to be this prattling little windbag with delusions of grandeur.

Anyway, the poem below was originally written for Jason, who at the time was engaged in promoting his self-created poetry form, the Binary Tree. This sample is actually not too badly-done, considering the stringency of the form.

At least, it's one of the few of the archival materials that I can actually read without asphyxiating from either amusement or embarrassment. Hot damn, it's good to be 32!

Love Groove
by Nikki Alfar

It's only love--don't hold your breath.
You win sometimes, or someone dies; it's only love.
Don't hold your breath: it's no big revelation.

It's only love--you win sometimes, or someone dies.
Ignore the tears that fill my eyes; it's only love.
You win sometimes, or someone dies: it's just the damn pollution.

Don't hold your breath. It's no big revelation--
one person's truth, another's lies; don't hold your breath.
It's no big revelation: love is no solution.

Ignore the tears that fill my eyes--it's just the damn pollution.
One person's truth; another's lies: love is no solution.