How dreary - to be - somebody!
How public - like a frog - to tell your name - the livelong June - to an admiring bog!
~Emily Dickinson

I'm not a diva. I'm a tadpole trying to be a frog.
~Toni Braxton

We see ourselves as poet kings and queens
and watch us watch his highness kiss her hand
and lively flirts and curtsies set the scenes
for flatteries from fans, egos demand.
We’re royalty’s real and throne pretenders;
widely acclaimed and want-to-be legends;
though few titles deigned have no defenders
and who’s who depends on audience trends.
Here, rhymes a Cinderella small town girl;
there, graced, a common princess without peer;
far, frog-of-a-prince with many a pearl;
near, suburban boys Goliath should fear.
Writing realities making them myth:
Readers will rule who’s identified with.

© Helga Ross 2004, 2007.