(untitled) -- a collection of experimental poetry [COMPLETE]

our paradoxical arrogance

being a writer
requires a certain
paradoxical arrogance

first,
you have to fall in love
with reading

then,
you realise
just how many
wondrous books
are out there,
more than you can ever
feasibly read

go ahead,
try,
try to read them all

eventually,
you must draw an
arbitrary line
and say:
'that's enough,
i can stop reading,
for now.'

what are you doing?
why are you writing?

why are you wasting
so much time on
attempting to create
your own stories,
when you've yet to read
all the books
that others have already
written?

there it is,
the paradoxical arrogance:
to say you love reading
but to stop reading
in order to make time
for writing.

there it is,
being enamoured
by the words of others
but devoting yourself
for hours and hours
for days and for months
and for years
to editing and rearranging
only your own ideas.

writers love reading,
but those who
have a true adoration
for literature
remain mostly unnoticed --
they're too busy reading
to pick up a pen.