Not A Title For Me

I am not a practitioner of the poem
please don't put me in that class
for to do so would be a ruse
like give me a undeserved mask

You won't see me under a tree contemplating
that grand old bard name Will
or reciting sonnets and pentameter
that keeps a fair maiden so still

I don't comprehend Persian
Rumi in his natural state I can't discern
only in second person
does he give me anything to learn

Aware am I of Yeats but for that pleasure
partial sourcing is my undergraduate degree
for both liberals and conservative are fond of his quotes
do you think that is a conundrum he would see?

Li Po is one of many poets
familiar but often can't identify the name
"he could poem-drink Bukowski under the table"
wine and my pen will never lead me to fame

Anyone with literature teachers remotely competent
knows of Emily Dickinson's pen
over 1,800 compositions created
but reading her ad infinitum is not my trend

Yes Donne works made an impact
that writer of love's long stretching tree
the truth is if you are brave enough to read my writings
any Donne likeness has no reality

Wallace Stevens if he had an impact
was void the name as it never stayed
in my memory for any duration
for his biography I would get a "F" grade

Now Whitman can't be avoided
for his words were so eloquent and tight
but on most given late evenings
I peruse something else to conclude the night

Divine Comedy by Dante another school norm
younger years the words were so known well
barely read him with age
not sure I believe in the creator made hell

Pablo Neruda some call him the greatest
but his influence on me is so indirect
coming largely through other wordsmiths I admire
at the most a weaker reflect

A judge of good cuisine my not be a cook
the lover of the guitar may not strum the instrument divine
so please don't consider me a weaver of poems
for that would be the most hideous crime!