Okay for some reason the blogs being due, totally slipped my mind, so for this post I’m just going to share something I made last month that I worked on for a while.
I know it’s sort of an easy ticket out of my dilemma, but I really don’t have any other choice.
The title is… A Small Poet
“A Small Poet”
No, thank you.
I’d rather be, a… small poet.
Yes.
A small poet isn’t left on a shelf.
A small poet Isn’t… passed out in class,
and needs to be read by Tuesday.
A small poet, isn’t laminated for protection.
No.
A small poet doesn’t cost much more than A buck fifty.
A small poet has dogeared pages.
A small poet sits in the house of a single mother.
Or the apartment of a young artist.
A small poet, has coffee stains, and highlight marks.
A Small poet is left in a mother’s purse.
And likes to be read on Tuesdays.
Because he’s a Tuesday person.
A small poet has torn out pages, but they aren’t missing.
They’re stuck on the walls with tacks and tape.
I’d much rather be a small poet.
This piece was inspired by one of my goals in life, It might be different than the rest, and probably not as interesting. But my goal is clearly as the poem states, I do not want to be an Emily Dickenson,
Or an Earnest Hemmingway. I don’t want to be an Edgar Allen Poe or a Robert Frost. I don’t want to be world-renowned. When I die, I don’t want a book of my work to be handed out in class and need to be read by Monday. I want my work to be analyzed for perfection or academic reasons. I simply want it to touch the hearts of those who find it. I would so much rather my work be found in an alley behind a few boxes. Found by a person who cherishes every word.
I would much rather that, than someone who buys my book in a bookshop and leaves it on their shelf to collect dust. I don’t want my book to be protected from dust actually, I would much rather it be worn, and dog-eared, and highlighted. I would much rather my book be owned by few and cherished by few. Then Owned by many and read by few.
I guess that’s my outlook on it, and I don’t even have a book of poetry (yet) to be published. But when I do, that’s how I want it to be read.
Anyway, I hope that’s enough for a blog. Im just finishing this as were leaving, so theres not much time to edit, so please excuse any misspellings or errors. Thank you.
That poem is wonderful! I really love that message, too. Aspiring to touch the hearts of others instead of reaching for world-wide greatness is really… I don’t know how to describe it? It feels reassuring, honorable, and relatable in the way that I’d want that to be my goal, too.
Carter I really sympathize and understand your perspective, I have had thoughts exactly like those and I am glad it isn’t just me.
I love how you talked about wanting to be known by few and loved by few rather than being known by all and loved by few. Your poem was a really powerful piece and I really enjoyed it.
I like how you just threw something together because you forgot we had a blog due. I usually do the same because I can’t remember anything. Because of this, I’ve started keeping a list of what to write about (usually stories of my brother and me) because it takes me forever to come up with an idea of what I want to write about.