call from new york

I see four, maybe five books,
maybe more.

there 's so much here,

the publisher says
on the phone.

you have to come up to new York.
the whole office

loves your work.
we're eating it up.

of course, not all of it is gold.

but there's a rich
mountain of publishable pieces here

that we think
would sell.

where have you been?
we've been waiting for a poet
like you.

accessible and real.

someone who tells the truth.
bleeds.

is raw and sensitive. vengeful
at times
and yet compassionate too.

you leave nothing on the table, do
you?

keep at it. don't stop.
your day is way over due.

your ship has come in my boy.

let's go.