Magpie #65
A Saint
Awaken
Open your eyes
Allow the beauty
Of the world
To come unto you
You are not alone
Care for others
Allow all creatures
That crawl, walk
Swim and fly
Freedom to pursue
Their own happiness
Allow them space
Speak up for those
Who cannot speak
For themselves
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For the Young Who Want to
Talent is what they say
you have after the novel
is published and favorably
reviewed. Beforehand what
you have is a tedious
delusion, a hobby like knitting
Work is what you have done
after the play is produced
and the audience slaps.
Before that friends keep asking
when you are planning to go
out and get a job.
Genius is what they know you
had after the third volume
of remarkable poems. Earlier
They accuse you of withdrawing,
ask why you don't have a baby,
call you a bum.
The reason people want M.F.A.'s,
take workshops with fancy names
when all you can really
learn is a few techniques,
typing instructions and somebody else's mannerisms
is that every artist lacks
a license to hang on the wall
like your optician, your vet
proving you may be a clumsy sadist
whose fillings fall into the stew
but your''re certified a dentist.
The real writer is one
who really writes. Talent
is an investigation like phlogiston
after the fact of fire,
Work is its own cure. You have to
like it better than being loved.
--Marge Piercy
