My Advice to Future Writers

The place where the disillusionment of fame ends and reality begins

Photo by Samuel Ramos on Unsplash

Publishing is like the laws of thermodynamics
You can’t win.
You can’t break even.
You can’t get out of the game.
Nobody told me the truth,
until I was too far in.

There is no worse fate in the world
then being a writer,
an artist, a free thinker
a poet with empathy.
Don’t do this. Stay clear
of this bear trap
hidden under dried leaves.
There is no escape
from the word
but a slow death of the spirit
and the suicide of happiness
and hope.
The digging of a grave
with every submission
to a fixed game.

They’re looking for
something already found
and you ain’t it.
These sleepless nights
in other worlds
are killing me.
I’ve never felt more alive.