A free-lance writer, bankrupt twice
Charles Wilson Waters
sold his work at such a price
he made no profit
ridin' the poverty train
couldn't get off it
He was always tacked with writer's block
lived off food for half a person
spent most his time, eyes watching the clock
with no ideas coming out
praying to a higher power
to pave a smoother, sorted route
Then one day he looked inside
and in his own mind he saw
the way to get off the poverty ride
in his own memory
was a book waiting to be written
about his childhood in Tennessee
The words came out like a dam that burst
and Charles Wilson Waters
unleashed his work and quenched his thirst
people loved it right from the start
probably because it was produced and naturally
directed by his heart
Well, across the street lived another writer
named Henry Harding
jealous of Charles, clenched his teeth whiter
he couldn't get a word to fit on the page
he cowardly vowed that he would get even
as he no longer controlled his dangerous rage
Henry didn't think to look inside for the words
he just fumed at Charles's bestseller
and swore, "I'll kill him and feed him to the birds!"
he called Charles over to celebrate with a drink
he fixed the drinks and added to one some cyanide
he'd gone mad with jealousy and couldn't think
Well, Charles arrived and told Henry what a good friend he's been
as Henry handed him his drink
Charles shook his hand, and that is when
he took a drink and hit the floor
with breaking glass
Charles Wilson Waters wrote no more
Henry was completely whacked
his rage had taken him right over
he thought Charles should pay for what he lacked
the police eventually figured it out and
henry was arrested
for the murder of Charles, who called him a friend
Well, Henry Harding was tried and jailed
but Charles Wilson Waters
had already died, his life curtailed
and the newest bestseller by Henry Harding, that evil knave
told what happened, which knocked all other books down the list
as Charles Wilson Waters turns in his grave
This is one of my longer story poems. It is not based on anything. The
people are just creations of my mind. I did not take a real life author and
change their name. It's the same thing I did with "Ratpack John." I might
re-write this someday. I don't think it's there yet.