Forgive Me This Edit

I am fortunate to have friends who are also poets. I wrote a poem about that a few weeks ago and shared it with a couple of my poet/friends who had cameos in the poem. I didn't expect the poem to come back all tidied up. But here it is, courtesy of Karen Shenfeld, a fine poet and editor, who responded to my email with a classic Canadianism - "Forgive me this edit..." So for Karen's version I've decided to re-title the poem. Here it is. The original, if you care to compare, was called "Just A Poet" and posted on June 7th. Let me know which one you like better. 


FORGIVE ME THIS EDIT


there was the farmer

who raised chickens, livestock

picked apples and pears

the family doctor

who made house calls


one ran a big insurance company

another practiced law


one was a banker

one a politician

another a mail carrier

who eventually moved up

to sorter


one was a government bureaucrat

another the heavyweight boxing champion

of the world


and the teachers, the teachers

so many teachers


not one

just a poet

not one


some I know only by reputation

others I call friends


me, I’m a rent collector

sometimes call myself

a property manager


and also a poet.