The Life of the Author

And yet they will say That I was not Or will not say That I was Or was not Or perhaps not They With BAs and MAs Will take these words away This is the Author’s curse They will say I was spoken I was slave To grammar and verse They will write As I have written About my nothingness My motionlessness The extent of my existence My stolen words Xeroxed in every thought Through plagiarised verse They will say I have written nothing I have authored nothing I have been authored By those who file These words in single file Of severed selves Into the alphabetised order Of library shelves