I wanted to write songs as long as I can remember, but as a child I did not want to write love songs (I really did not like them). But as I got older, I began writing lyrics and tried to write music. As fate would have it, songwriting was not for me. So I became an English teacher, who became a digital marketer, and now someone who wants to be a poet. Trouble is - the songwriter likes to make appearances way too often and way too often I really love what the songwriter wrote even though it does not belong in a poem. I wrote this draft in response to my frustration with writing and editing out the songwriter. It is a very rough draft.
I love the sweeping statements of a song
the directness of the chorus
the poetry hidden inside.
Then, they invade my poems,
the little viruses,
and they become
my little darlings
that I just can’t kill,
making me sound like an alcoholic
describing the drink;
I like the way it sounds,
how it rolls off my tongue.
I don’t want to release them
but I should.
They are little crutches
to prop me up,
make me feel better,
but do nothing for the poem.
It truly is hard to let go
of my version of cocaine.
(C) 2026 Kenny Norton
