Crime and Punishment
She was
the only
person
I'd show
my poems
to. She'd
always
say with
great
enthusiasm,
"Who wrote
that one?"
When I
replied,
"I did."
She would
say, "It
would have
been better
if you'd
said a famous
writer."
She was
studying
law at the
big university
and was
much smarter
than me.
One day she
told me
she had been
accepted
into a special
reading
group. There
was one
outstanding
student
picked from
a dozen
highly ranked
universities
worldwide
to fly to
Germany
for two weeks
and discuss
Dostoyevsky's
Crime and
Punishment.
"It would
cost $12,000
but be worth
it. Imagine the
conversations!
Great minds
from around
the globe
coming together
for the express
purpose of
art," she said
with great
enthusiasm.
I told her it
was a waste
of money.
She got angry
and stopped
speaking to
me. When
she returned
a few months
later she called
me, immediately
apologized,
asking me to
read her my
new poems:
she really
missed hearing
them. I
never read
her another
poem. And
never told
her: how much
I missed her.
Tougher than a Million Wounded Phoenix
Poetry
isn't
about
success,
it's
about
survival.
One
word
following
the next.
Making
even the
worst
times
bearable.
A Poem for the Editor that Hated My
Protagonist
Dear editor I
am thankful
for your
prompt
response
to my recently
submitted
story. Really
thrilled you
went for the
ghost thing
(honestly
didn't think
you would.)
As far as the
rewrite you
suggested
(the
protagonist
being
completely
unlikeable
and not
deserving
a happy
ending.)
It wasn't
something
I even
considered.
You'll be
glad to
know I am
using that
feedback
in this poem.
The same
protagonist
from my
submitted
story.
The same
protagonist
from every
story I
write: me.
Enduring
yet another
luckless
ending.
Bio:Brenton Booth lives in Sydney, Australia. Poetry of his has appeared in Gargoyle, New York Quarterly, North Dakota Quarterly, Chiron Review, San Pedro River Review, Main Street Rag, Naugatuck River Review, Heavy Feather Review, and Nerve Cowboy. He has two full length collections available from Epic Rites Press.
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