ADVICE TO ASPIRING
POETS
1.
Suppose that it comes true:
Your name in lights, outshining all
others in this vast galaxy
of poetry.
How hard, then, to envision the
next
day but one, when another will
become the toast, a brighter star
eclipsing yours?
What then? Does this future-you
remember words worth all the
energy
that has been spent upon them?
Will they be sufficient
to sustain you?
If so let me suggest that you allow
them to sustain you now, disregard
the rest. For such words, surely,
are present as we speak, and (I reveal
no secret here) will remain
the only element of poetry which
becomes a part of who you
are
forever.
2.
Enter our present endeavor with dreams
of fame and each fellow poet, every
critic, all those in attendance
at your next reading, any journal editor,
curators of random websites,
not to mention so many judges of
too many contests, lie between you
and your goal.
Engage, however, with a simple
pledge to be the best poet
you can possibly become
and suddenly there is only
one
individual who can ever
stand
in your way.