No Money in Poetry

They say

there is

no money in poetry,

and that  all poets

have other jobs,

or are people of means,

or even dilettante sons and daughters

of the rich,

except for Bukowski

who took a leap

among the cockroaches,

the booze

and was taken care of.

They say there is no money

In poetry unless

you’re  a Cohen

and can sing,

or just fashionably famous,

wise and  can win

a Nobel prize.

I say so what.

You do what you love,

and what feels right.

You say what you

need to say

to make the pain

go away,

and say what needs

to be said,

simply because it needs

to be said.

Sometimes the obvious,

sometimes obtuse truths,

Sometimes the unspeakable,

must  be said

because in the

final analysis

and human denouement,

we are all dead…

so might as well

say what needs

to be said

before the time comes

that we all end up

that way,

to see If anybody out there listens,

anybody out there cares,

If anybody out there

wants to hear

a truth or two,

or make a difference.

I bet a poet’s income

that they do..

 From “Free Verse in Useless Times ” by PWChaltas