Painting by Anthony Holdsworth

Jack Foley

THE POET'S TANGO

 

Nobody reads me

I'm not published enough

My work is magnificent

     three steps to the right, turn

Nobody reviews me

Nobody buys my books

If only I were reviewed I could be famous

     three steps back, turn

If only I were on the radio

Or on the television

Or if someone would make a movie of my life, THEN

     three more steps to the right, turn

Someone would buy my books

Someone would review me

They'd know

     three steps back, turn

How magnificent my mind is

What a major poet I am

How my work will be read hundreds of years from now though

     three steps to the right, turn

NOW nobody is reading me

There will be books about me

I am great

     three steps back, turn

My ex wives will be famous

My children will be famous

My ancestors will light up in their tombs only

      three steps to the right, turn

Nobody reads me at the moment

Why can't I be famous while I'm still around

I tell them: Sometimes I publish under the pseudonym, "John Ashbery"

     three steps back, turn

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