I Want to Write a Poem

“I want to write a poem,” said the man.

“Then write a poem, I know you can.”

“But what should I write of?”

“Yourself, of course.”

“But wouldn’t you rather read of a horse, that stowed away on a captain’s ship, and sailed to sea to escape the whip? But what of a name?”

“Call him Jake or Clyde, it’s all the same.”

“Perhaps I will write of a pizza instead. A circle of cheesy, tomato sauced bread.”

“A poem about a pizza, that’s quite absurd.”

“The point is to write of something that you’ve never heard.”

“I have heard of a pizza.”

“But one that could fly? He’ll soar through the air and the clouds way up high.”

“Is this a poem for children?”

“You’re right it’s too juvenile, a more serious poem would certainly beguile. I could write of politics or social woes.”

“Every comment I make and off he goes.”

“I know, I’ll write a poem without rhyme.”

“That sounds a bit dull.”

“You’re right… Never mind.”

“What is so wrong with writing about you?”

“Give me a break, what do I do? I lead a boring life devoid of struggles or strife. I neither travel nor hike, I don’t even bike. I work a dull job with no stories to tell, and I have no hobbies or trinkets to sell. My only talent is cracking an egg with a single hand, so tell me, I beg, where’s the demand, for a poem of a man who has only this, he wants to write a poem, for I am remiss of a reason a person would ever read something so mundane, so tell me I plead.”

“You need not a reason to write a poem, just words, and pages to give them a home. So write about horses or pizzas that fly, or poems that don’t rhyme although I can’t fathom why, but write it anyway and call it a day, just do something is all I can say.”

            -AMS