Image: Unsplash, downloaded (https://unsplash.com/photos/V9mVXYKGyxc) 20.05.2023.
Count to Ten
I’ve been told to pipe down
To take a break from tooting and fluting
To listen much more
for a change
And to give in some
now and then
I’ve been coached to sit tight more
And instead of mememe-ing
to let others have a say
In fact I’ve been asked to step aside
And to mind my own clutter first
I’ve also been reminded again and again that
Crows are the only thing good at
crowing
I’ve been scolded to stand back
more than once
And even though it’s Spring
I’ve been chided to count to ten
Before jumping up to say
Oh please yes please
I can
While Smoking
Let me be more direct than I should be –
If this fun right here isn’t your idea of fun
Then just go on back to what you were already doing.
And maybe even think about moving on
Don’t worry a whit.
Go as you came
It’s really no matter.
And okay, take along whoever or whatever you want.
That’s just fine with me too.
All I ask is that you forget entirely the look on my face
At the very beginning
When we were gooey
Because my tricky dove I was born in Confidence, Wyoming
And as a result
Will always see things as being wide open and surely meant to be.
And in fact if anyone should ask what happened
Between your smoke and this one that’s mine
You might tell them
In one fine nostrily breath
That the best forever carved-in-stone word to be is free.
About the Author: Founder of Poetry X Hunger: Poets Speaking Back to Hunger, Larew lives in Maryland, USA. His poems appear widely in places such as Poetry Scotland's Gallus, Iowa Review, Honest Ulsterman, Contemporary American Voices and Best Poetry Online. CyberWit Press released his latest collection, Patchy Ways in 2023. www.HiramLarewPoetry.com and www.PoetryXHunger.com
