The reader and writer of poetry

diligently reads

the Poem of the Day, everyday,

along with the biography of the poet

and then he peruses other poems

by the poet and other poets’ poems

and he thinks to himself, I don’t belong

here. And then Billy Collins comes

to the rescue as if the Holy

Spirit had sidled up to the reader/writer,

taken a seat at the counter next to

him and said,

“The coffee is on me.”