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Edited on Wed Jan-09-08 09:34 PM by BlueIris
"Aren't You Famous Yet?"
Still on the train
to the Big Time
hadn't you better
get off at a station
any station
so long as it has a town
where people spend
their lives in hard work
and chicanery and love
and chicanery
and all those other things
most folks gossip about,
any town with its people
worth knowing and talking to
instead of you inking
verse on vellum?
You know, verse
out of the blue?
Or at least unpack your belongings
and settle in your seat awhile
get used to the undignified energy
that hurtles you
and your poesy
to—let's face it—
the Outer Unknown Township (OUT),
even as you ignore
being in the world
beyond yourself.
A world of fields
with horses deep in thought
backyards hoarding secrets
storied steeples
that ignore you back
as you dismiss
your dozing fellow passengers
(their sitting-on-their-hands)
when they could be applauding
your significant pose
swaying there mid-aisle.
Okay, you know it's prolix spring
a time for yawning speeches
laurels and wreathes of various kinds:
Parnassian trophies in green and gold.
It's dazzling, isn't it? You think one or two
of those babies isn't your due?
Listen, don't be fooled.
That bad boy Catullus
could tell you a thing or two
about life in the Big Time
not to mention Propertius.
And Rimbaud—Look
what Paris did to him!
Or was there some give
and take there?
You're more the eclogue
type, anyway. Of course
that's just one of your problems.
(Refer to chicanery above.
Refer to OUT above.)
If only you could scale back
your lofty, I don't say out-of-date, ambition
if only you could see your way
to a degree of humility. Not a lot
just enough to cut others
and yourself some slack.
Maybe even add a touch of color
to your poet's black kit—
I guess I dig the beret—
or change your ensemble
entirely. That'd be significant.
More than a fashion statement
a real change
leading to an honest—
I do mean it—question:
Did you catch
the right train?
—James Griffin
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