Appeal to Desmond, offering some poetry (4)
I believe the answer is:
odes
'some poetry' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'appeal to desmond' is the wordplay.
'appeal' becomes 'o'.
'to desmond' becomes 'des' (I've seen this in other clues).
'o'+'des'='ODES'
'offering' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for odes that I've seen before include "Lines" , "verse" , "poetry" , "To a Skylark, To a Nightingale etc" , "Lays" .)