Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SOLILOQUIES OF A SMALL-TOWN TAXI-DRIVER: ON THE WRITING OF POETRY, by EDGAR BARRATT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SOLILOQUIES OF A SMALL-TOWN TAXI-DRIVER: ON THE WRITING OF POETRY, by                    
First Line: I wish I had finished high school
Last Line: You know where that leaves him.
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets


I wish I had finished high school
So I could write poems about human nature.
A taxi-driver learns a lot about human nature.
Since they put the rear-view mirrors inside the cabs.

And besides there is a lot of time to wait
While your fare is getting drunk enough
For someone to have to help you
Put him inside the cab.

And there is nothing to do but read
And the magazines are getting rottener
Which is probably because the editors are crazy.

And I suppose they think the same about us writers.
But they are wrong -- like the guy,
When the circus came to town, last summer.
He paid to see the fat lady
Sitting on a platform, and he said to her,
"I think you're crazy
To sit there and let people
Look at you for a dime."
And she said, "I ain't as crazy as
The people that pay to look,
And besides, I get the dimes."
And the guy didn't know what to say --
Like the fellow who said to the girl
At June's place,
"I don't see how you can be with just anybody for two bucks."
And she said, "I am four dollars smarter
Than you are, mister, on that one,
The two you pay and the two I get,
And besides two dollars is an awful good price
For this town."

And that guy didn't know what to say either.
And the girl said, "Thank you, " like she always does.
She is a very nice girl that way.

And the editors pay some of us writers,
So you can draw your own conclusions.
But I suppose they will say they are more like
The ticket seller at the side-show.
But where does that put them,
In the June's Place layout?

So, now I don't know what to think
But if the editor buys this
You know where that leaves him.





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