Francis Raven

You’re Good but Not Asshole Good


in turns you suggest,

             no, state

that an admired elder
has proclaimed you a better poet
(but teacher, plumber, and even investment banker
                                                      also work)
than an even more esteemed oldhead;

your risk-loving rhetoric exponentially lifts
the value of your tainted stock.
 
          
  Francis Raven’s books include Provisions (Interbirth, 2009), 5-Haifun: Of Being Divisible (Blue Lion Books, 2008), Shifting the Question More Complicated (Otoliths, 2007), Taste: Gastronomic Poems (Blazevox 2005) and the novel, Inverted Curvatures (Spuyten Duyvil, 2005).  Francis lives in Washington DC; you can check out more of his work at his website: http://www.ravensaesthetica.com.
                                               
                                                             © Francis Raven  All Rights Reserved