Sunday, August 25, 2024

poem

The Other One

Once I realized I wasn’t the one writing

These mediocre poems I was able to

Tip my hat to the secret writer

And let him be—

Have at it, my old friend


I could then disavow them

Without any sense of culpability

Skim through them once or twice 

Roll my eyes and turn the page

Maybe read the first line and quit

Skim the title and scoff, next.

But every now and then I would

Read one the next morning that,

Maybe it was the full blue moon 

Or the second cup of espresso, almost 

Seemed…. sort of, kind of, ok good?


And I would be stricken with waves

Of envy—that should have been me!

Like finding an old friend on Facebook

Embracing a sultry young lover,

Living his best life,

The one you never had the courage

To get off your ass and seize.


So I began to read more critically

Look for its flaws

Tear it down

Rip it to shreds. 

Trash. This is all trash


I could do better 


8/25/24 

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