By: Katie Lewington 

poetry –
quit, no
this is for a living
an appreciated form of writing
call it poetry and it will have people saying
i don’t read that
but in a different guise it’s a meme, a share
and soul comforting, like a hand held

college kids, i’m writing
published in a few zines

you’ll give it up you don’t know
how important it is to continue
and one day
going through the archives
laughing with your children
oh yeah mummy used to write poetry
experimenting as if it may be your
sexuality, drink, drugs

ever tried to sniff, or drink, a poem?

poetry because that’s quaint
and cute

i was writing about my feelings
ain’t that something
look, this is a poem about your dad
oh no, don’t look that’s rude
ha, forgot i wrote that

and not a long term solution for paying
the mortgage
filling the car with petrol
bills
clothes
the cost of living

i’ll eat my rejection slips
and sew them into clothes or else
join a nudist camp

this is for a living

i didn’t fuck up my life,
become a drop out, discover Ginsberg
and give it my all to be a hobby
that might be spoken of
in my eulogy.