A portrait of the artist as a young woman

My advice to any young poet
Is Own It

People will tell you you’re not good
Or worthy

They’ll list bards and beauties

There is always someone they’ll measure you against
And you’ll come up short

Your anger will be coarse
Your sadness will be seen as weakness or self-indulgence
Your joy shallow

Any emotion you lay claim to with be labeled naïve

But this is how the world works

Youth is mistrusted and mocked
Age is respected

Look around at everyone who has power
You’ll see a pattern
Like a rhyming couplet

Don’t follow suit
Be you

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