In The Middle Poem by Percy Dovetonsils

In the middle
of reading
someone else's
excellent poems
images
of a poem
of my own
came to me
which had no guarantee
it
would be
the least bit
good.

The other poet's poems
were sure to be good,
had won many prizes,
clung to my leg
like a sobbing child
clinging to a parent
who had to go to work.

But I pulled myself free,
left the other's poems
standing in the foyer
in a puddle
of their own tears,
climbed into my car,
and drove to work