You’ve written enough poems now
Enough to go about securing yourself
A book deal
Was the man on the other side of the line
Feeding me some shit
Or was he being for real?
Was I still dreaming?
No, seriously
You’ve got what it takes
Some of your poems
The one about OCD
The thing managed to make my wife’s heart quake
Now you need to sit back
Take a load off
Let the poems do the talking
What do YOU think?
You just need to make the right link
I told him I had 150 poems to call my own
That I was still waiting
That each and every one of those poems were still
Inside a big fat folder
Alone
He said that it was my own head
That might be creating the boulder
You’re a soldier for what you did to overcome
Your OCD
But this is an entirely different kettle of fish
Your lifelong wish
To make it inside a book
It has to come
People are ranting and raving about your work
Your ability
There are all kinds of different themes with
Equal quality
I asked him if he knew how to land that elusive book deal
And he told me this
Prepare yourself to go to events to read and read
It’s awfully tiring but what you’re doing is planting the seed
I thought about this for a moment
And decided that above all else
I wanted to write a book of fiction
His reply
Poetry is absolute fiction
You fill your characters with description
My name’s Pat
And I think it’s only a matter of time
I told you before
Your work is sublime
You just need to be prepared to do the time
Maybe you should do something else
Go back to playing football
They say you were good when you were a teen
Not the best
And I’m not being mean
But it’s about how good you want to be
Not how good you are
And from what I see
You’ve always wanted to be as good if not
Better than the rest
At whatever pursuit you choose
So find those boots
Throw on some football clothes
And find the manager of the local team
They played this evening
Nicked it one-nil for promotion
Not serene
I think they could really do with your devotion
Your special touch
Oh
And also
You need to quit using the smokes for a crutch
It’s rotten
Leaves you exhausted and downtrodden
Remember
The poetry will remain where it is
Ready to cause some more quakes
And before you know it
There’ll be a publisher at one of your matches
Looking to meet you
To grab your hand and shake it
Hard
That’ll be your book deal right there
So enjoy yourself
Never despair
and the rest of itself will take care
You’ve got what they call the taste
Just be sure to stay focused
Keep up with the pace
Now tie your bootlace
And get on out there