By Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2022

First published in WestWard Quarterly (Fall 2022 Issue)

Not often enough
have I paused to give thought
of artists struggling
for their dreams to be wrought:

Of starving actors
scribbling sadly each day
orders from patrons,
one audition away, 
from bright starring roles
in an off-Broadway play;

Of painters at heart
drawing portraits instead,
left without canvass,
simply sketching a head;

Of street musicians
lacking keyboards and stage,
singing the same notes
without turning a page;

Of poets renowned
in their circles of friends,
editing work ads
without means to make ends;

Of authors of books,
written out in their heads,
who long for still time
to stitch their thought threads.

Sometimes I ponder
what artists there could be  —
sharing their genius
and visions of beauty.