Don't write poetry

If you write about cliches and don't mean them,
don't write poetry.

If you write about sluts and don't fuck them
don't write poetry.

if you write about stars, planets and galaxies
and it's about stars, planets and galaxies
don't write about stars, planets and galaxies

If you don't have the emotion to tap from
don't try and write about it

if you have no sense of burden,
you're probably not going to make it

If you haven't tried 40 times
by your 50th poem
you're probably not
going to try
by your
100th

Most of all, remember
if you've never reached the bottom
and spent your last 40 dollars
on a writers grant application
and a cheap bottle of wine
you'll never really
understand
what living
and dying
for your craft is

so let
the martyrs
do their work
and stop
taking up space.