Are there poems you won't publish?

By Richard Jones
Even C.P. Cavafy–
cynical, ascetic,
unknown in his day–
printed at his own expense
poems no one would publish,
poems intimate, personal,
to share with readers
he called friends.
 
But I have hundreds of poems
hidden away in a box.
Even when I know
Cavafy once wrapped verse
with black and gold ribbons
to give away as a gift.
 

Copyright Credit: Richard Jones, "Are there poems you won’t publish?" from The Blessing: New and Selected Poems.  Copyright © 2000 by Richard Jones.  Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org.