Poetry of Issue #8        Page 90

Did Shakespeare Feel This Way?

Every time I tell myself
“no more poetry,”
I get stuck writing it again.
Bad habits die hard.
I should have taken up smoking,
graffiti, random killing.
So many better pastimes
than this one
to help pass the time.

I guess I’m stuck with it,
the monkey on my shoulder
with pen and paper.
If only it would take dictation
instead of just sitting there
eating peanuts,
shoving the tools at me
and yelling in my ear,
“Me and a hundred cousins
could do it better.”

  Joseph Farley