Denial

The poems that you often read

are the opening of one’s heart,

the revelation of one’s soul

which deny you from the start.

Not a whit can pass unknown –

one’s whole heart is disrupt,

but profit comes to those who learn

and do not interrupt.

Ideas can be misconstrued

and often ta’en to bits,

and that which seemed to be so good

is often named ‘misfits’.

But don’t despair, it’s not all up.

Criticism’s best

for those who are sincerely toned

to stand up to the test.

Written in my book of poems I wrote when I was 16