Can I be a poet
If I have no inner pain?
If I'm young and hopeful?
Optimistic and cheerful?

Will my poems be loved
If they're not about strife,
Sadness,
or heartbreak?

Do I have to be bitter
Or angry
or annoyed
to be a poet?

Do I have to write about grief?
Do I have to write about angst?

Or can I break that standard
Of poets always being heartbroken?
I want to write about joy,
Laughter,
and Daydreams.

So I will.
That doesn't make me any less of a poet.