It's Not About Me
I'm a poem with a message
I’m an ode with attitude
I bring portents: yes, I presage
Great Events: they are my food
I have lots of social focus
Strip the world of its disguises
Light verse is for callow jokers
I win Very Forward prizes
Left or right? Which way I’m leaning?
There’s no side in Bigger Issues
I make words with triple meaning
I am Ajax, I’m Odysseus
When they want to count the score
When they want to know the facts
Here they queue outside my door
Here they ask for new brass tacks
Feel my perfect length of line
Sense how long my author pored
Over this, my sleek design
I am ready for Awards
I tweak the noses of the leaders
Use my rhymes to slap them down
Readers? I don’t need my readers
All I need’s a ballroom gown,
Some white tails and a microphone
A camera flashing in my face
Some headlines I can make my own
And slogans. Let me make my case -
I’m a poem, firm but terse
My adjectives are well-endowed
How smart and supple is my verse!
See me rise above the crowd,
See me polish up my chorus!
Hear my rhythm, speeding up!
I have eaten the thesaurus!
Hand me this, the winner’s cup!
Click here for a note in The Herald in Scotland
Click here for Bill’s poetry collection, Ringers
Click here for Bill’s New Statesman research
