I’m a Poet Too!
This is the last poem I write about you.
Swear to g-d.
Swear to G-d, this time.
This is the last time I pour whiskey into my coffee cup
scribbling notes through a poet’s reading
because this is the last time I’m in a coffee shop
when it’s past time I should be drinking
This is the last time I will hesitate before using the C-word when not speaking directly to a representative of my local police department who is acting in his or her official capacity
This is the last time that I pretend that I’m ignoring you
But it is not the last time I pretend that you’re ignoring me
Back-alley moralists
Your hearts long severed from your literary niche
Enlightenment-hobbyists
Who scratch each other’s back long past the removal of all skin
No, I mean it. No more pages of free-verse jabbering about what a bunch of losers you are. It’s incredibly transparent and self-serving. It only degrades me. It’s when you read it that you degrade
This one reads just like the last one
and I’ve got a million more
But there’s no need to spit out
what’s in someone else’s mouth
and there’s no poetry community
into which poetry can fit
So there’s no need for friends or enemies
or comfort in being read
no lovers among your listeners
There’s no slice of the market you can eat:
The market will always eat you
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