Maybe I should write a formal poem
all I write is unformed
dreams, not real yet
Maybe I should fit my thoughts
into lines and meters and stanzas
fit myself into the real world.
So I’m a little idealistic.
Maybe if you were more optimistic
you wouldn’t get hurt too. If there’s one thing poetry has taught me
it’s that you don’t have to bleed to take out your soul.
Maybe I should write shorter poems
not blather on so much
stop taking up your time with my words.
Maybe I should put down harder feelings
harrowing things
blood and gore
Maybe I should write sitcoms.
Maybe I should give up writing poetry
turn my attention to real forms of writing
After all, a good essay can get you into college
not a good poem.
Maybe I should stop writing altogether
learn how first
sit in a classroom
raise my hand and learn punctuation
and when I’ve done that, why,
why on earth should I write? I can get into a good college
get a degree in something real
like business
sally forth into the real world
and maybe I’ll find that all I really know
I learned when I looked at everything
with an idealistic writer’s eye
and put in on paper the way I saw it
unpolished.
Maybe I should keep writing unplanned poems
read some Shakespeare, Dickinson, Poe
grow with my poems
and come out knowing who I am.
Maybe you don’t have to edit my poetry
Maybe you should stop trying to edit me
cut off a freckle here, a pound of fat there
Maybe this is real
But then, maybe it’s Someone’s idea of a joke.