Don't Spoil



I don’t have any jitter

today,

save a sleepy feeling,

but please,

don’t spoil it.

It’s only a sting.

Oh, I can’t,

I just can’t . . .

Honest today, I am

a water brain.





For the Critic



Your cold eyes

Won’t tame

My poem. Soon

I’ll break

Your crown,

Your clipper.



But then

I’m smart: I have

Yet to run

The first lap

And plant a star

On the chart.