Book Signing Poem by Donal Mahoney

Keep writing,
a famous writer
once told me
signing his novel,
until you have said
something true.
The thing of it is,
he cautioned,
some never do
yet find no time
for life as it is.

They find no time
to feed the hungry,
give drink to the thirsty,
clothe the naked,
care for the sick,
visit the imprisoned
or call an embalmer
to bury the dead.
Instead, he said,

writers keep writing
hoping they’ll say
something true
and maybe they will.
The thing of it is,
he said, so few do.
Most write about life
as they wish it to be
and not as it is
for too many.
A pity, he sighed,
signing another book,
but so often true.