The Education of a Poet

By Leslie Monsour
Her pencil poised, she's ready to create,
Then listens to her mind's perverse debate
On whether what she does serves any use;
And that is all she needs for an excuse
To spend all afternoon and half the night
Enjoying poems other people write.

Copyright Credit: Leslie Monsour’s newest book of poetry is The Alarming Beauty of the Sky (2005) published by Red Hen Press. Poem copyright © 2000 by Leslie Monsour and reprinted from The Formalist, Vol. 11, by permission of the author.
Source: 2000