Howard Firkin
Well, one of us is widely read, of course.
And one of us gave birth to lots of words—
midwordery as I call it— and herds
of phrases and expressions still in force.
And one did not. No prize for guessing which.
Apart from that and other superficial
differences there’s not a lot between us.
Comparisons aren’t helpful and demean us;
so read between our lines—all art is interstitial—
accept that we both scratched a common itch.
Each day a thousand scholars probe and peek
and try to plumb old depths, but you are quite
alone. You read these words. You are unique:
the one for whom we both once chose to write.
And one of us gave birth to lots of words—
midwordery as I call it— and herds
of phrases and expressions still in force.
And one did not. No prize for guessing which.
Apart from that and other superficial
differences there’s not a lot between us.
Comparisons aren’t helpful and demean us;
so read between our lines—all art is interstitial—
accept that we both scratched a common itch.
Each day a thousand scholars probe and peek
and try to plumb old depths, but you are quite
alone. You read these words. You are unique:
the one for whom we both once chose to write.