Sound Advice

It’s time to accept defeat
to sign the armistice
and withdraw the pen from use
thereafter.

Remain a gifted amateur:
use the shield of insouciance
to deflect the barbs of critical
mockery.

Keep close your counsel and write
in secret, your words hidden:
a writer’s skin is inside out, nerves
uppermost.

Protect your pitiful pride
from the worst of all:
the pricks of opinion hurt less than
indifference.