Stacks of letters
saying "no"

rejection can be
such a blow

most every writer
has some

even Dr. Seuss
though he had a chum

that's how the book
expressed it

when they said
who would have
guessed it

he'd pleaded
to so many

said maybe
ten or twenty

supposed to make
for less regrets

bid you continue
in your
attempts

but

then they drop the boom
bring you back your gloom

they go on to say
in these very terms

he bumped into a "chum"
who worked
for a publishing firm

Every time
I think I'll stop

I'm not getting
through to you

Every time
I think it's useless

that I'm talking
till I'm blue

Every time
I bite my tongue

and want my song
unsung

Every time
I think that I'm insane

I open up
and words fall out again

if not to
make you pause
to catch your breath
or sigh

if not to
bring deep pleasure
a vivid scene
of sea or sky

if not to
open doors
where
your heart has never gone

if not to
to bring the colors
that brighten every dawn

if not to
flirt with music
on the dancing floor

if not all
this and more
then
what's a "meta-phor"?

where have all the poems gone
can't find them anywhere
where have all the poems gone
have they vaporized to air

where have all the poems gone
will no one help me look
where have all the poems gone
are they in some long closed book

where have all the poems gone
they're dying now some say
where have all the poems gone
why could they not stay

where have all the poems gone
gone to ashes
every one
where have all the poems gone
will they return when day is done

will words rise from the ashes
blow and swirl in wind
will they dance to joyous music
tingling beneath our skin

will they gather in a circle
will they place themselves just so
will they strike a chord in every heart
making poems
standing toe-to-toe

where have all the poems gone
flown off like traveling swan
where have all the poems gone
perhaps they're waltzing
with the dawn

You can learn a lot
from a Facebook page
just from the pictures shown

what things a person collects
what kinds of things they own

their likes and dislikes
vacations that they've taken

how many kids
how many pets
even what time they awaken

but mostly I like to notice
how many "selfies" there are

sometimes it's quite amazing
you'd think they were
some kind of star

headshots would be another
good name
for those poses oh so hammy

smiling, grinning, grimacing
goofy, questioning, campy

those infamous pictures
on Facebook
shots showing a craving
that everyone look!