This is How You Begin
You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt
when what they say is
can’t won’t never amount to
who do you think you --
stand, pick up your wounded pen
they can’t pay you enough
to make you stop
you lose track of time
you would do this anyway
this thing you can’t not do
it has a life all its own
it thrums
wakes you in the night
there’s a ring
the Operator speaks
it’s always collect
you take the call
(Published in Tulip Tree Review, Spring 2015, Issue 1.)
