An Honest Man, A Good Writer--A New Poem

Like Baldwin before me,

Like Bukowski even,

I want to be

an honest man

and a good writer.

Like Hemingway,

I want to bleed on the page;

I want the truth

to be laid bare;

quoting Ginsburg,

hysterical naked;

no bullshit,

no chaser;

what you read

is what you get;

I might

and can

create fiction,

but,

if you don’t see yourself

in it,

then I’ve wasted my time

and yours;

because,

the world has enough lies

and liars,

and,

in my opinion,

not enough

with the courage

to say

what needs to be said

in the way

that it needs to be said.

Let the politicians

and false prophets

shut up for a change,

and let the poets

have the floor;

wonder how much more

earthly good,

let alone,

heavenly,

can be done

if the artists

were able to call the shots.

I want to be

an honest man

and

a good writer--

two things

that I will always

want to strive towards,

rather than

achieve,

because,

if I attain that,

if I arrive there,

where else

is there to go?

© 2014 Joseph Powell