My Poetry is Too Raw, says Mr. Clark, a New York magazine editor. He invites me to his office to visit, have dinner, and pay all expenses

I never earned a MFA (Master of Fine Arts Degree)

so I’m doing the best I can.

This reviewer said I was probably

the worse poet he had read

but my stuff was so enjoyable that

he wants to review any book

I publish.

He works for

a glossy national

glamor magazine

you often see at Walmart

or grocery stores.

He goes on and on during

the phone call,

“You don’t rhyme, he says

You don’t use “meter”

You don’t know when to stop,

You don’t know how to write

because your poems go too long.”

However, he will review

all my books

because they make him

feel something

within himself

things that happened

in his youth

both funny and romantic.

Believe this if you will,

he invited me to meet him

for a day of conversation,

dinner and getting

to know each other.

“Come and visit me at my office

and I will pay your travel expenses, hotel expenses and treat you to a fancy dinner for steak, lobster, wine and dessert.”

I gotta love this editor.

He is a poet’s man.

I have not been to New York City

for years.

I’m looking forward

to this visit.