I am new here
And you don’t know me
I could be self-important
untalented
brilliant
But I am new here
and so I am unknown.
You are folk artists
Aging beautifully
Carrying your twangs and wandering rhymes in your pockets
tucked in jackets
stuffed with memories
“Remember when we were here?
We loved these mornings
and we wrote this song”
You have clung to your principles
eating your organic chocolate
wearing your second-hand clothes
devoted to your instruments
The calluses on your fingertips speak for you.
I am new here
but I know I don’t belong
My work is blank of memory
My poems babbling infants in this quiet room
My principles are still untested
Laptop keys leave no mark on my skin
but I’ll stand up nonetheless
I am here now
And among your other virtues
I believe you will be kind.