Just A Poet

One was a farmer

raised chickens, livestock,

picked apples and pears,

another was a family doctor

back when they made house calls.

There was one

who ran a big insurance company,

and another who practiced law.

One was a banker,

one a politician,

another a mail carrier

who eventually moved up

to be a mail sorter.

One was a government bureaucrat,

another the heavyweight boxing champion

of the world.

One made documentary films,

and one studied to be a rabbi

but made his living

as a financial planner.

And the teachers, the teachers,

so many teachers.

Some I know only by reputation,

others I call friends,

not one

just a poet;

not one.

My heart aches for them,

the farmers, executives, bureaucrats,

doctors, bankers, mail carriers

and sorters

who were also poets.

Me, I’m a rent collector,

sometimes call myself

a property manager,

and also a poet.

My heart aches.