Playing with Matches

by Glen Martin Fitch

Some poets lead romantic lives,
some not.
Some thrive by talent, friends,
or luck, or taste.
Some seem to represent
what's lewd or chaste
and some stay sober.
Some use booze or pot.
But you crave fun and fame
and want them soon.
Reject the current myth
of risk and pain.
If you,
instead of effort,
think you'll gain by turning
to a needle and a spoon,
then,
like the pit crew fool
with plugs to clean,
who struck a match
to play a deadly game
by handily extinguishing
the flame deep
in a half-filled pail of gasoline,
you just might last
to boast of highs or strife,
but it's more likely
you will blow your life.

From: 
8/11




Glen Martin Fitch's picture

ABOUT THE POET ~
Glen Fitch is a 16th Century poet lost in the 21st Century. Born near Niagara Falls, educated in the Catskills, thirty years on the Monterey Bay he now lives in Palm Springs. Retail not academics has paid the bills. Someday he will finish Spenser's "The Fairie Queene."


Last updated August 23, 2011