Banished Once: A Review of Kelly Vinal's poem

Banished once, then amnesty
Presumptive, brash, and stolen-
If only we could win and lose
With the same devotion.

Once it flowed in harmony
Through the plains and to the ocean-
Wide, so wide we could not see, the
Shriveled, brash, and frozen

Banished once, then amnesty
Incumbent, brash, and chosen-
Harvest pain and dump it in
The preserve of emotion.

Once it rolled with bravery
Across the lunar desolation-
Far, so far, eternally, the
Silent, brash, and broken.



First let me say that Kelly's repetition of the word "brash" iterates the very essence of the poem. Yes, "Banished Once" is a metaphor for the audacity of man in his stumbling and blind pursuit of the unplanned and the unwinnable; When all is fraught and lost--then and only then

Amnesty........................................

This poem of Kelly's is the fore runner to his last and Vinal final.

I began with "Overfines" and Cavfancier began with "Fortress".

Although I do not like comparing Kelly's work to other writers, I must admit that I thought of Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death."