The poet fears failure
& so she says
“Hold on pen–
what if the critics
hate me?”
& with that question
she blots out more lines
than any critic could.
The critic is only doing his job:
keeping the poet lonely.
He barks
like a dog at the door
when the master comes home.
It’s in his doggy nature.
If he didn’t know the poet
for the boss,
he wouldn’t bark so loud.
& the poet?
It’s in her nature
to fear failure
but not to let that fear
blot out
her lines.
(Erica Jong)
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Based on Topics: Nature Poems, Home Poems, Literature Poems, Poets Poems, Dogs Poems, Criticism PoemsBased on Keywords: boss, critic, failure, barks, blots, doggy