Tuesday, November 18, 2025

poem

 Works in Progress

Even my children are unfinished poems

Trapped in the limbo of the giant pdf file

Containing all my cherished rough drafts.

Every morning I open them up 

And read over what I have written,

Receiving them warily, uncertain if they’re ready

For the remorseless gaze of the world 

What started out as my special little babies 

Have become something almost recognizable

To everyone else as anyone else. 

So many little edits and alterations

I can’t remember ever making

I should have left them alone

When they first spilled out

Now I’m stuck searching 

For yet another flash

Of special imagery 

Only the three of us can see 

One more metaphor 

For how afraid I always was 

Of life until they came along 

No, they’re not ready yet

The last part remains elusive

Leave me alone, Dad!

They’re always saying now 

Go away, Dad!

They’re their own poems now

Insisting they finish themselves


11/18/25

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