Write a poem, you say,
And give me a subject
About that which you think I should write,
But it don’t work that way,
I’m afraid I must reject
The challenge you set me tonight

For a poem, you see,
Simply cannot be forced,
I can't pluck one out of thin air!
It needs to just be,
And run its due course,
And the writer, of course, needs to care

It’s not that I can’t write,
It’s not that I won’t,
It’s just that these things simply are,
And it seems that tonight
The mood simply don’t
Inspire to take me that far

I can't just decide
When the moment will take me,
And jot down a stanza or two.
I’m not trying to hide,
But you can’t simply make me
Write poems to benefit you.

So that’s why this piece
May not quite be art,
And won’t be remembered in books.
I can’t choose to please
(Wouldn’t know where to start)
You with how my poetry looks.