The joy of being anonymous, that we would so eagerly trade away for fame. |
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To Trade it All AwayThe bunch of us are free and brokeunrecognized and ain’t it grand Which is a damn good thing to remember, to make a note of and paste on the wall somewhere, to keep handy as a reference if other times should come No pressure of celebrity, recognized and reservations never needed, autographs and getting the best tables, but giving up the incredible freedom of wandering streets alone And that’s a big deal, if you think about it Wandering alone in streets or paragraphs, able to kick back and play it out Plenty of time to kick back here and now and you gotta love that freedom, gotta need that scattering, gotta want that kiss of time Sullivan said form follows function and there’s truth in that, but he was an architect and they know it all I say recognition narrows all the options and that may be true as well, but I’m a writer and we know less and less So here we are, hoping lightning will strike and the smell of fame follow like thunder 'Cause sure as hell, success will give a scent to be sniffed against the last work and make hounds of us, heads down To work out the lines, kenneled by success We want it even so, hunger for it, seek it out And tired of singing in the closet Needing our scribbled voices to be heard and a good table would be okay as well, autograph or not, at least a place to eat We’re running eagerly to trade it all away |
This poem is included in Jim Freeman's poetry collection BROKEN PIECES available here in print or as an e-Book in your favorite formats. |