My First Book
http://www.lulu.com/content/223020
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
came in the mail
today
and it was thinner
than I hoped
it would be
this was all I wrote
in a year?
Seems like I had
a year more full
than this slight volume
would indicate
it's a "publish on demand" book
so it may not count
as a real book
but I have sold three
copies beside the two I bought
so perhaps it counts
I look at the contents-
my verbal naked snapshots -
and silently thank God
that I used my nom de plume
still
I am quietly pleased
that I have a book
I can call my own
and sell at readings
I wanted it to look
like the work
of a professional poet
so I spent two months
combing the words
aligning the tenses
sharpening the focus
changing the order
I wanted it to be the
perfect cross between of Bukowski
and Dorothy Parker
in substance and style
it even has a UPC barcode
on the back
I just didn't want it to look
amateurish
but despite all my effort
I did find an error
in the title poem
of all places
which I guess
is my way of
of knowing
this really is
my book.
today
and it was thinner
than I hoped
it would be
this was all I wrote
in a year?
Seems like I had
a year more full
than this slight volume
would indicate
it's a "publish on demand" book
so it may not count
as a real book
but I have sold three
copies beside the two I bought
so perhaps it counts
I look at the contents-
my verbal naked snapshots -
and silently thank God
that I used my nom de plume
still
I am quietly pleased
that I have a book
I can call my own
and sell at readings
I wanted it to look
like the work
of a professional poet
so I spent two months
combing the words
aligning the tenses
sharpening the focus
changing the order
I wanted it to be the
perfect cross between of Bukowski
and Dorothy Parker
in substance and style
it even has a UPC barcode
on the back
I just didn't want it to look
amateurish
but despite all my effort
I did find an error
in the title poem
of all places
which I guess
is my way of
of knowing
this really is
my book.
shalom
