Alone,
I write poetry and perform on my own
honing my skills and if it kills me,
let it.
What use to me the audience?
the polite applause is an
inconvenience.
I need the solitude to magnify
the things that flit through
my minds eye.
But the readers feed me
as I bleed into them
ink from the tip of the
ball point pen.
Curse me then and
if you dare
perform
for the audience
you seek out there.
I need none
I perform
alone on the stage
I call my home
honing​ my skill
until
it kills me.
© 2016, John Smallshaw.