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