the non-renowned poem-writer

I shouldn’t write long poems.

whether I’m good at it or not

is not the question.

the questions is: who’ll take

the time to read them?

everybody’s busy with their own devices

and time spent with mine means less time

they’ll have to spend with their own.

makes sense.

Robert Browning doesn’t have this problem.

I just read "Andrea Del Sarto" after reading "Fra Lippo Lippi"––

not epics by any standard, but two very long poems nonetheless,

with lots of words and intriguing hills and gullies to navigate.

problem for me is; I’m left to mourn the poems I left behind

in the non-retrievable distance of Browning's dust.

it's all in the timing you see.

Zooks!–– fuckin’ Browning.