Reading Howl Part 1

“I was sorry to hear my name mentioned as one of the great authors, because they have a sad habit of dying off. Chaucer is dead, so is Milton, so is Shakespeare, and I am not feeling very well myself.” - Mark Twain 

I don’t like any poets writing now. 

None of them tell the truth. 

I’ll never be a poet like the greats

Like Sexton or Eliot 

Because I’m too new. 

I laugh at myself when I admit

I want to become a writer

Like Auden or Stein. 

“The difference between a good poet and a bad poet is luck”

Well then I must be a bad poet. 

Eventually, I know I will give up. 

Instead, I’ll give up before I start. 

This is the only poem I’ve written. 

The only one I’ll ever write.