The Only Copy Poem by Doug Lane

Suppose some idiot
lost your one copy
of the best story
you ever wrote.

After you got over
your initial despair
would you throw over
storytelling
as a chump's game

or keep telling stories,
no matter how badly,
till you fell down dead
or buried the pain

of your initial loss
under a mountain
of stories, poems, or whatever else
you could imagine

to replace
your lost child?

Tomorrow
I want you to find
the long lost safe deposit
key
to the thousand
poems, plays, and stories
you have yet
to dream up.

After that,
the rest
is up to you.