Hollow Praise

I readily admit that at composing poetry I'm a rookie. I've yet to be invited by a firm to publish for me a "bookie!" Flattering friends tell me that I'm a budding Robert Frost. Ha! That I'll believe when my name on a cover is embossed! I've sent poems to so-called experts - they claim they are smitten! Oft they gush, "My boy, that's the greatest poem ever written!" But do they offer for my chef d'oeuvre any remuneration? No! For inclusion in THEIR book I must pay THEM compensation! "Win thousands of dollars in prizes!" the journals proclaim! "Enter our contest and you'll garner world-wide acclaim! You have a genius for expressing your thoughts!" they often say. I've yet to see my poems even published as "Poem of the Day!" "You're invited to our convention to read your poem!" they gush! "The spotlight is on you - over the audience falls a hush!" Is it worth paying two-thousand bucks for a tad of fleeting fame? I think not - please include me out of your nefarious game! I'll wager Poe, Guest, Burns, Keats or even Ogden Nash, Didn't have to go thro' such inane folderol to make a smash! They can keep their anthologies, I'll not perpetuate their scams. I'll just keep composing for kith and kin my very humble gems! Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired (© All Rights Reserved) This sums up my experience with poetry.com!!