William Taylor Jr.

Something

I woke up today
and in the morning
news read about
a popular fashion
designer taking
her own life.
Though I myself
had never
heard of her,
the article
went on to say
she was famous,
successful
and well-loved.
She was wealthy
and attractive,
a wife
and a mother.
She lived a life
most of us can
only dream of,
and she hung herself
with a fashionable
scarf.
I don't know
what it says
about me
or these times
that have found us,
but my first
honest thought
was, well
shit at least
somebody's
doing
something.

The Poets are Drunk

The poets are drunk and they want you to know about it.
The poets are sober and they want you to know about it.
The poets are arguing on Facebook again.
The poets love Charles Bukowski.
The poets got a poem accepted and they want you to know about it.
The poets got a poem rejected and they want you to know about it.
The poets are posting their works in progress to all the social media sites,
counting up the likes and shares like shiny coins.
The poets are telling each other how wonderful they are.
The poets are telling each other how horrible they are.
The poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.
The poets blacklist the poets they find problematic.
The blacklisted poets blacklist the poets
who blacklisted them in turn.
The poets are reading for five minutes
in their three minute time slot.
The poets are working for social justice.
The poets have no time for social justice,
they're just trying to get a decent line down
while they can.
The poets are reporting each other on Twitter.
The poets have a new chapbook available.
The poets have only 3 copies left, so you'd better
get one while you can.
The poets hate Charles Bukowski.
The poets are marching on City Hall,
their pockets stuffed with poems.
The poets aren't getting out of bed for three days straight.
The poets are flying out to AWP
The poets are starting a GoFundMe account to help them pay their rent.
The poets are starting a GoFundMe account to help them pay their bills
The poets are starting a GoFundMe account to help them fly out to AWP.
The poets are 5, 637 words into their novel and they want you to know about it.
The poets are waiting to hear from their agent.
The poets are prophets.
The poets are liars.
The poets are arguing on Facebook again.

 

William Taylor Jr. lives and writes in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.He is the author of numerous books of poetry, and a volume of fiction. From the Essential Handbook on Making it to the Next Whatever is his latest collection.