Intellectual Pottery

The story is perfect until you start.
For a long time, this was enough to keep

People from stampeding to make their own.
A few really good imperfect stories,

What more could a storyteller ask for?
You had the reliable tale. You had

The inevitable imperfections
That made you believe you might do better.

You practiced. You performed. You told stories.
Authorship crept in, a divinity

On tiny cat’s feet. The untold story,
The one that shimmers on the horizon,

That’s perfect, perfect if you can catch it.
You can glimpse it rising up before you,

The perfect story, your perfect story.
But, as soon as you start, it’s something else.