Because I Have Not Read Your Poem Poem by Shalom Freedman

Because I have not read your poem
And complimented it you on it
And played the game
Of one hand washing the other
Or you rub my back and I‘ll rub yours
I am sure you will have no great desire to read my poem
And help rescue me from obscurity
Yet so old and stubborn and independent and foolish am I
That I will continue writing in my own way
Without necessarily reading you and your poems
And while hoping that what I write
Is of such meaning and interest
That someone somewhere will read and like it.