2 – To Be or Not to Be a Poet

He uses a word
I should know
should be able to define

provide example,
one of my own even

(poet, my ass)

To be, or not to be

like the woman next to him —
roll up a sleeve
to show my favorite lines
inked in perpetuity

So I make a note
That is the question

But shouldn’t I come equipped
with the tools of my trade?

The rhyme. The reason. The rhythm.

Emily etched on a forearm
I’m nobody.

But am I a poet?
Really?

And what am I making
of this wild and precious life?

Two roads diverged
and I found myself lost

wandered lonely as a cloud
until the word pulled me back

said LOOK ME UP!
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Until you find your way back
full of sound and fury

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Poem and photo ©2024, Jen Payne. With thanks to William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Robert Frost, and William Wordsworth. IMAGE: Still life with skull, candle and book, Paul Cezanne. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.