A Minor Poet

By Tony Tinsley

A Minor Poet

I crave fame, but I’ll never write 
Of trees, or woods 
or tambourine players.
No homage will I ever pen 
to ravens or albatross.
Sleep is practice for death,
But I’ll not rage against the night,
Nor wail about captains, 
for I have none.

I know not why the caged bird sings,
Nor where Romeo art.
I’m not sure where the sidewalk ends, 
nor even where it begins.
Too cramped for me, a tub would be,
With three complaining men.

So, while I trod the road not taken,
It’s painfully plain to see.
My destiny, forevermore, 
a minor poet to be. 
 

Tony Tinsley is a writer and editor, award-winning professor emeritus of psychology and author of more than 150 works on critical issues in psychology. His flash fiction has appeared in 10×10 Flash Fiction Stories and 50 Give or Take, and his fiction and poetry have been selected for inclusion in an anthology of Pacific Northwest Writers scheduled for publication in the Fall of 2023. Tinsley divides his time between the Pacific Northwest and the heartland.