“Write me a poem”

He breathes with conviction,

While smoky deceptions

Make veins in the air.

Guilt puppets children of

Guilt left by parents of

poets who write out of fear

for their art.

So poets make pages

Of doodles and drawings

And daughters write poems

For fathers who smile

But wish that their children

Would learn about grammar

And dance in pink slippers

Too small for their feet. 

“Just write me a poem”

He makes it sound simple,

Forgetting that daughters

Don’t always write rhymes.