Jim Slaughter Poet Rhyme

My Muse Made Me Do It

I thought my secret was safe in the closet
In scads of pads neatly stacked on a shelf,
But when my muse said it's time
To post my rhymes online
Was the day that I "outed" myself.

I'm not what you'd call a great thinker,
My profundity's barely skin deep.
I'd love to be one of those
Who paints pictures with prose
And writes books people buy, read, and keep.

But it's too hard to flesh out a plot line
And keep it moving from cover to cover.
First you push, shove, and fold it,
And polish, and mold it,
Then often toss it all out and start over.

Writing verse is a less stressful pleasure,
Mine's often witty and gay.
Is each poem I write a rare treasure?
Will I gain wealth and fame beyond measure?
No, it's not, and I won't, and I know it.
Some things are not done for the pay.
Time will tell if I merit the label of "poet",
But I'll keep scribbling my rhymes, anyway.

Though my muse does her best to inspire me
To keep writing and vendor my stuff,
This is poetry, nobody needs it,
But if now and then somebody reads it,
I think that will be glory enough.

Now my secret is out in the open,
I can neither refute it nor rue it.
So I'm confessing it out loud,
Yes! I'm a poet, it's avowed,
And I'm proud that my muse made me do it.

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Anitha Jayasankar July 2, 2022 at 10:53 PM Well penned Jim Slaughter and good to know your discovery of your writing aspirations... God bless... ~ Ani Jim Slaughter July 3, 2022 at 4:54 AM Thanks, Anitha.

Gershon Wolf June 29, 2022 at 8:53 PM Aw! So sweet, Jim. btw: I was gonna keep your secret (and mine) forever. But now that it's out... Jim Slaughter June 30, 2022 at 9:31 AM Thanks, G.

Joseph P. DiMino June 29, 2022 at 11:04 AM Love it!! "This is poetry, nobody needs it, But if now and then somebody reads it, I think that will be glory enough." Outstanding! Some do and sell...some just write. Frost said, when he became famous is when he stopped being a writer -- more or less, to my recollection. Jim Slaughter June 29, 2022 at 11:24 AM Thanks, Jeff. Yes, the commercial aspect of writing is very off-putting to me...as it must have been to Robert Frost.

Jeff Kyser June 29, 2022 at 11:01 AM lol, I had this idea I was going to publish a book of poems, and then I joined the soup and realized how many thousands of folks were cranking away, and I said, meh, maybe the world doesn't need another volume... :-). Enjoyed! Keep writing! Jeff Kyser June 29, 2022 at 11:30 AM Good for you for getting there! I may self publish something for the kids, maybe… Jim Slaughter June 29, 2022 at 11:23 AM Jeff, thank you. What I've discovered about myself and about my writing aspirations, is that I had much rather have a lot of people read just one of my poems for free, than have just one person buy a book and read a lot of them. And sites like PS do very well at that. I must admit, though, that I have published a couple of collections on Amazon, and it is nice to see them there.