Show me one man
who has gotten
power, fame
and money through
incredible talent
effortless genius
carefully cultivated network
and I’ll show you
ten fools who
got the same
in spite of
themselves
Show me one business
that has achieved
dominance in its
industry through
good decisions
careful planning
unrelenting diligence
and I’ll show you
one hundred
who have thrived through
directionless and
unplanned ways
Show me one writer
who has attained
greatness through
higher education
cultural saavy
bald nepotism
and I’ll show you
one thousand
uneducated hacks
who whisper
into eternity
with effortless
grace
The facts are clear
The Genius fails
The Moron wins
And vice versa
And the bookshelves
of the world
bend low
ready to teach
us why
and how
this is so
It seems the only
thing left to do
is do the thing
as best you can
and leave the rest
in your overstuffed
suitcase
on your rented porch
as you walk out to
do it again
tomorrow
And the day
after
And the day
after
that
Until
your lot in this life
and
your concern for it
are no
more
forever
_____________________________________
Robert Bruce is one of the most read, linked, loved and reviled poets working on the web. He writes at KNIFE GUN PEN every Monday from Portland, Ore. Get more over at Twitter. If this did something to you or for you, go ahead and spread it around...
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The public persona gains and rises with a grander scale than even the swelling suitcase. May we stuff more in the suitcase, and expose less to the open atmosphere.
This can certainly go down as a prime example of work strewn together with diligence and creativity, but instead of serving as an addition to the genius
… there is an indispensable justice, to yourself and to others, in doing well the work that you are “called” or prepared by your talents to do.
–Wendell Berry
Lately, I’ve been thinking of climbing in the suitcase. :)
here goes.
p.s. i don’t know how you work on a deadline. i was told yesterday that i needed to find a piece to read on thursday for a reading. i went back today, was told what i offered was not lighthearted enough, and sent away again. so, i have 48 hours to write a poem. thats not the problem. the problem is that it has to be lighthearted.
wish me luck!
mary ellen
mary ellen, your situation reminds me of a scene from “10 things I hate about you”…
Cameron: We are screwed.
Michael: Hey, no, hey. I don’t wanna hear that defeatist attitude… I wanna hear you upbeat!
Cameron: [more upbeat] We are screwed!
Michael: There ya go.
This one troubles me. I like it!
For the record, I don’t believe in genius–just perseverance.
I love the anti-personal success cult direction of this one. Outstanding. I enjoy reading the biographies of the unheralded or the writing of the common, like Confederacy of Dunces or things like that. Ecclesiastes and Lamentations….
Thanks for your work, I always enjoy it!
Good title. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but in the 17th line there is a typo: decisions
I have to be honest…I don’t really know if what you write would be called poetry by the “technically elite” whoever they are, but I think it is, and whatever it is it’s brilliant, it’s free and unencumbered by the constrictions writer’s place on themselves for fear of their readers…I would love to buy you a beer and talk to you for a couple of hours…keep ‘em coming!
Yeah, just keep going and going and going…and one day (right?) we’re getting The Rewards.
Fingers crossed.