Monday, April 02, 2007

Verse Ain't Free

the poet competes -
words are sport
of an individual kind

accolades and
applause shave
our insecurities
like seconds off
the clock

a ribbon of response
proof that our words
are not unremarkable

we grow flabby -
cigarette in hand,
drink on the desk
with melting ice -
making rings mother
wouldn't approve of

we exercise the one
gray matter muscle,
hunched over the broken
"f" key on the keyboard,
the sticky, clicking, echoing
typewriter that doesn't always work

our ink-stained fingers,
clutch crumpled napkins,
stuff torn notebooks
into backpacks, purses -
piles on the floor

all that paper a
steady diet for the
silverfish who live
like us; stuck between
two sheets of paper,
disintegrating when pressed

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