maybe if my poem didn’t have
that name.
if it didn’t have

an author.
would it still feel the
unjust sting of your
blatant bias?
would that explain
why a poem

written by me
that had my name stuck to it,
was any worse than yours?

if this poem were written by you,
would it make it?
would this poem crawl

and flutter
over the brink

of the edge?
if this poem were yours,
would you

publish it?

is it because the author

is me,
or is it because the author


exists at all?
maybe if the author
were unknown,
the work

would be seen as work
as poetry,

as prose,


as art.
poetry at its best

changes minds,


changes people,

changes ideas,


changes laws,

changes hearts.


it is not about whose name

is attached to the work.
mine or yours.
poetry,

art,


prose,



songs.

it is not in the name
it is in the message.

if this were written by unknown,
would it still feel the
unjust sting


of your bias?