Past Poet

* Past Poet *
The ink stained fingertips
Beard of coarse rusting barbed wire
Eyes absentmindedly gazing out
A pot belly grown large from musings
This is the older poet
Designated owner of a stool
At the local coffeeshop
Capable of making a long black last
Through two drafts and rewrites
A highly successful poet
Four books published
Shortlisted for State prizes thrice
Twice a finalist in the Women's Weekly
Once won the Outer Eastern Library competition
Earns less annually than the dole
And holes worn deep into his shoes
A car which runs irregularly
And a need to drain the financial blood
Of lesser writers by
Providing classes on prose and rhyme
How to get published
All without ever mentioning
How such success will inevitably
Erode their standard of living.