"Publish And Be Damned"

Searching for more to devour
In the Poetry Library for an hour
A look and a flick
In half a tick
Then back on the rows
Depending on the rhyme
And how it goes.
A thin,fading pamphlet caught my eye
Truth be known can't tell why
Truthfully actually I can
But don't want you thinking
I'm a bigger fool than I am.
It's all in the name-
Dick Davis from the telly.
It might as well have been Mavis
So I could pretend
This was right up my Coronation Street.
For this wasn't
the 'Dick' I was after
(Ground floor toilets,
But that's another poem)
Not 'World of Sport'
That was in my thought
Who was Dickie in a bow
And a Davies on that show.
I took my four choices off the rack
Then had a tiny guilt attack
Even though I wouldn't have 'Dick' at home
The least I could do was read his tome.
'Size isn't everything' is perfect for him
Just six poems contained within.
I can't recall if they were good or bad
Am totally overwhelmed by a cloud of sad
For deep down I'd love to be published
Even if I'm critically rubbished
Don't want to put Dick the poet out of joint
But pray tell what was the point?
A mere two hundred was his print run
What was the point of having it done?
Just two copies here now left for rent
From the lot that's one per cent!
They haven't been issued since the century last
Without any interest decades past.
All that effort all that thought
If I'd done the same I'd be distraught
Accepting I'll never have my own book
My low self belief would be totally shook
Make the mistake of pretending to be half decent
And you'll be told it's the wrong place, which heard recent
Better that I know my place
And post secretly online while knowing my place.

Dulwich Poet 7th April 2013

( I was at the Poetry Library again, changing my books. I am working my way along the collection alphabetically, taking out whatever catches my eye. I spotted a very thin booklet called 'Visitations', by a chap called Dick Davis. There were two lending copies, the most 'recent' issue was late 1992)