1.

So you wrote a poetry book

you are so young

everyone praises you for being

so famous, so beautiful,

your words so fabulous,

you stare at yourself in the mirror

take pictures of how truly wonderful you are.

Forget how years ago

you almost killed yourself

that was not you

who put stones in your pocket.

 

You cannot remember that girl anymore.

 

Now you are number one all over the world

and your poetry is a best-seller.

This praise has left you fully clothed

with designer shoes and purse.

You feel so content and send pictures

from your book signing,

one day you are in London,

the other in Paris

all these cities you’d never thought you

would ever see.

You post your uplifting quotes

and get five thousand likes in seconds.

You have truly made it in 2016.

Congratulations strangers boast

friends compliment

emojis placate your cell phone

your battery dies

you feel lost

you need to see how many likes

you have on your last poem

but your

family bakes you a cake

to celebrate this journey of yours

and the last place you want to be

is at your grandma’s sharing cake

with all your family

who never even read your book.

 

2.

You fell in love with yourself

when you sold so many copies.

Everyone’s version of you now

is exactly how you knew

you would come out

You were destined for greatness.

Every friend on social media

says your book is phenomenal.

 

3.

A poet arises

she is not as glamorous

she does not care for

designer scarves as much as you do

she speaks in a language you never heard

before.

You never read poetry.

You only speak from the heart

and this is all you have ever known.

She comes from a place of silence

cares about the trees and the oceans

more than her likes.

Suddenly, she passes you in followers

overnight success.

Jealousy and rage turn you into

a monster,

the one you forgot about,

the one you left hidden.

 

4.

Her book is number one

and she uses this imagery

you never imagined existed.

You cry at the injustice of it all

and how

you now have to defend your quotes

about how beautiful you are.

 

5.

You make up lies.

you are desperate now

she is on television

and she is so ugly

how could people love her poetry?

 

6.

Your book is still number one.

She only sold five thousand copies

but she is getting some kind of award.

That night you get so drunk

you forget who you are.

 

7.

You give in,

you buy her book.

You cry at her words

and find yourself in her poetry

more than you ever found yourself

in your very own.