'Readers Wanted: The Plan to Re-allocate Roles in Gather' ( a fable)

A website where I publish poems somehow developed
a self-appointed group of 'serious poets'.
One even lamented in a post that too many 'worthless'
poems were cluttering up the site.

The following poem was my reply:


Storm clouds are gathering
Have you heard the rumours?
We are surfeited with poets,
and starving for consumers,

While the unwashed multitudes,
immune to our delights,
pursue their vile distractions,
'We poets' write and write,

though faithfully we follow
our literary leaders,
(whose work is deep, and dark, and dense)
still, we haven't any readers,

The problem simply stated friends
(I can't be too emphatic)
is just a little numbers game,
It's coldly arithmetic,

'Eureka!' we have it!
shout our Gather poet-leaders:
'We simply need to RE-ASSIGN
BAD POETS INTO READERS!'

So, bad poets of gather,
Please show us your courage,
Your KNOW your poems are blather,
You KNOW they're boring porridge!

Please accept your new status,
acknowledge your betters,
and render due homage
To the TRUE men* of letters.

So now you've heard the plan,
Which I heartily endorse.
[I know they'll let ME stay a poet,
They like MY stuff... of course!]

What's that? What's that?!!
'Credentialing' you say?
err... mmm... I know I have it here somewhere
...my mail-order MFA

-jorge999



* and women