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I sit writing poems all day,
and I reckon my stuff is OK,
but I yearn to be famous
like Dylan or Seamus,
and not just a poet manqué.

Now I don’t want to start a polemic
but poetry manqué is systemic,
and it also is true
that The Poetry Review
is regarded as too academic.

The poet manqué must survive
at open-mic meetings and strive
to find publications,
with low expectations,
to keep his ambitions alive.

And so I keep plugging away
in search of a little cachet;
I may never find fame,
or become a Big Name,
but at least I have now had my say.