ROUND ONE

 

There you are with your BA (Hons) in English Literature,

5 years of studying poetry and prose.

Yes, you’re a real academic, all those years

in lectures and seminars. Got you a decent career

and a real nice income. Not like me

who did it the other way. Taught myself

to write, been published many times.

See what you think of my poems and my book.

Your critisism was fair, I can take it.

See it as positive as it’s all part of the process on my path.

You said my murderer poem reads like a newspaper report.

See what you think of my war poem or my ultimate love poem.

Has your stint in academia taken away your emotions,

have you become an academic text book?

Are your emotions for Round Two?