Focus Not On Jokers Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

I have earned any respect,
Given to not expect it.
Yet appreciated to get.
Since it had not been handed to me,
At a neighborhood carnival.
On a peppermint stick to lick.
Or until I discovered,
The taste of cotton candy.
Only to switch my preference for peanut brittle.
To chew on to like not to tire of it.

Nor can I today say and not admit,
I have had my wishes to daydream.
To keep a few seriously in view.
But an incentive that remains,
I can not explain the discipline.
Or from where it came to keep my focus,
Not on jokers.
Or disbelieve what I most wanted,
Could not come true.
With an effort endeavored to make possible.
This belief to dismiss,
Had long be distanced from my mind.

I have earned any respect,
Given to me I get unsolicited.
And to know this as I age to reminisce,
Is a blessing and a gift.
I have learned never to take for granted.
Although I have noticed it to witness,
Those who thought of my efforts to be a joke.
Seem not to come too close to hear me laugh.