The Journey Of A Closet Poet

By Mallika Prabhakar

The journey from a closet poet

To standing in front of you all and talking about it

It’s been a constant battle

Nothing as easy as playing with a child’s rattle

But it’s thrilling to say in the least

To find a way to channel that inner beast

To find a correct word is like finding a needle in a stack of hay

Especially with all those big frightening words on display

Yet before you all... I stand

Pretending to hold a mic in my hand

Hoping that my poem would make some sense

Or I may just pass off as being too dense

From a person who never shared her poems with anyone

And yet here I am going one poem after the other one

Is it truly happening to me?

Or is this one of those nice dreams that I often see?

This opportunity came as a sweet surprise

I feel like I’ve already won a big prize

There is a sense of exhilaration coursing through my body

I would like to believe that my poems aren’t too shoddy

I can’t compare to all the wonderful poets here

After all I am just an amateur who is writing here and there

But my friends made me feel so good

It’s their support that got me here, is what I’ve understood

I won’t take too long in my self-praise

But it’s true, there is a standard for myself that I did raise

Let me end this ordeal by being grateful to you all

Who have amazingly suffered through this onslaught and not made me hide in a wall

I’ve had no critics in the past

Here’s hoping you all won’t be my last

This is my journey from a closet poet

And here I am telling you about it

By Mallika Prabhakar