In My Hard Work Poem by RIC BASTASA

the goddess of poetry
by reason of my hard work
as a poet
writing poems and more poems
did not give me wings
as reward
neither did she give me
laurel leaves as
incentives or a vacation to
China or cash not even a trophy
or plaque of appreciation
to time allotted
to emotions devoted

she is cruel to me
she gave me a pair of black eye-bags
swollen eyeballs
back pains, tormented mind
stuttering mouth

and a very nice sleep
on the other hand

with a bonus
i am now more focused
on what i really want
i am self-reliant.