Letter to an Unpoet

Thank you. Thank you,
Even if you
Don’t want to be

Here, reading this—
Were assigned, were
Compelled somehow

By gatekeepers
To browse these words.
Honestly, you

Probably don’t
Exist, but we
Who preach gladness

Not gratitude
For existence
Know gratitude

Matters among
Human souls most.
The rarest souls

Are those that give
Their attention
Just to attend.

If you don’t want
To discover
How to write, how

To find readers
Of your own—if
You’re just somehow

Here, giving us
Who say nothing
Much the kindness

Of attention,
Thank you. You are
The dream reader,

The ideal kind
Of reader—please
Stay as you are.