You are not a poet

Virtual showrooms are fashionable

these days,

almost too good sometimes.

I order pink, white and red things

that are expected to be delivered

some ten days later.

But he said,

Materialism is not for the poetic

He knows I was overjoyed

when neat brown packets came, some five days early.

I like pretty notebooks

that are wrapped in clear plastic.

But poets cannot be like that, he said

You smile too much

and your curves too showy,

you are not a poet.

Poets dress like they’re homeless

and have glasses as thick

as the skin I’ve developed.

Poets drink cheap rum

and of course,

large gray beards are always appreciated

I never thought you’d be smart,

girls without glasses

or stretch marks never are.

You’re far too thin

and your thighs, too big

you cannot be a poet.

If you were a poet

you’d have shadows beneath your eyes.

Poets always have miserable lives .

You talk too much

You talk too little

No, you cannot be a poet.

Photo credit: Nhoj Leunamme == Jhon Emmanuel / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND