I wanna be a semi-distinguished poet
a relative household name
in the households of all my relatives
I wanna do a book signing at a store
that will later slap 50% off stickers
onto all my remaining copies
I wanna go to a used book sale in the mall
and find one of my tomes misplaced
in the foreign language section
with a partially torn 50% off sticker
still clinging to the cover like some kind of skin disease
I wanna be a semi-distinguished poet
invited to travel half way across the country
where my sponsors will put me up in some fleabag hotel
and I will write a poem about the fleas
And I will give a reading for an audience of eleven people
who read about it in the local weekly alternative rag
Most of them will wander in late
And I want there to be one semi-attractive woman
who will approach me afterward
intent upon getting into my pants
This
to me
is the essence of true romance
I wanna be a semi-distinguished poet
winging my way home
lonely
and vaguely apprehensive about the future
beginning a new angst-ridden poem
plucking words from the rarefied air
and drifting into a cloud-shrouded dream
