Excerpt From Johnny

My Audience

I came home from work

laid on my bed

and read a book

then fell asleep

two hours later

here I am writing

to my audience

ME.

I’m the best audience

I have

I keep myself going

I applaud when necessary

I boo when I have to

when I write a good poem

I’m happy

I cheer and applaud

the poet in ME

eats it up

and bows

to ME the audience

on bad days

when there is

limited production

or when my imagination

evades ME

I’m hard on the poet

make him feel like a fool

you’re trying too hard

keep it simple, I tell him

he pretends not to hear ME

quit trying to be poetic

you sound like an academic

but once in a while

I’ll write something good

that makes it all worth it

my audience

loves the good poems

the good poems keep ME going