A Modest Man

There are poems about trees
And poems about seas
Poems of flowers and skies
A talking Raven has a poem
But so do common house flies

There are poems about ships
And poems about lips
Even an ode to a Urn
A day in June is so rare
Did I mention a verse to a fern?

There are poems about places
And Clown’s funny faces
Poems of all kinds of things
They run the proverbial gauntlet
From Cabbages right up to Kings

Yet there’s a serious omission
Yes, a revolting position
As you will readily agree
A poem that remains unwritten
I speak of a poem about me

A quatrain might do
Or a couplet or two
Published, of course, if you can
I might allow just a lymerick
For I am a modest man

Do not praise me too much
All my talents, and such
And the beauty that lays in my soul
Omit, if you please, my halo
Let humbleness be your goal

But write it you must
It would be only just
Tell all the world about me
But only as humble as you can
For I am a modest man

Now, a poem about me
It is easy to see
Is very hard to compose
Rhyme limits adulation
Perhaps, you ought to use prose

Poets, present and past
Would relax at long last
A wrong is to be undone
As with “Lenore” and “Hiawatha”
You’ll give me my place in the Sun

As you might surmise
I am thoughtful and wise
And not one to brag or to boast
I remain as silent as the lamb
For I am a modest man

LB 1/17/16

Lew Bracker is author of Jimmy & Me, dealing with his friendship with James Dean. An interview with Mr. Bracker is also available on Van Gogh’s Ear at: https://theoriginalvangoghsearanthology.com/2015/09/15/an-interview-with-lew-bracker/