A Thin Line Poem by Augustine Yirideme

You write little pieces of poetry for public consumption
Some of your readers commend you; you feel encouraged to try and write more
Then you discover a website where poets post their writings for peer and public review
You find there names like Maya Angelou, Pablo Neruda, Langston Hughes, Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, William Ernest Henley and many others
You read with delight some of their poems; you're feeling tremendously inspired
But then something suddenly strikes your oblongata!
You pause to ponder for a while
You think, and think more about what you have been reading
And about what you have yourself been writing
Then you query yourself, 'am I really a poet? '
'How did these come to this level? '
'Were they born with the skill? ' 'Did they learn it? '
Then you think about your thoughts and you wonder whether you're being inspired or discouraged
Your ego chooses a conclusion:
'Well, I'm taking inspiration from these legends'
'I'm proud that at least I do something that has the same name as what they do'
All this while your inner man has been waiting to have his say
He screams at you with that tiny, almost imperceptible voice:
'Just like love and hate a thin line seperates inspiration and discouragement'.
'You can choose to feel useless because you're not as talented as others are'
'Or you can choose to be challenged by them into working harder at growing your own talent.'
Between inspiration and discouragement is indeed....
A thin line!