Thom Forbes

When I was a senior in high school, I sent a few poems to The Evergreen Review, a literary journal published by Grove Press. Judgement was as swift as it was in those days --  which means it was rather pokey -- but it was definitive when it came. The 3 x 5 (as I recall) mimeographed rejection slip hinted of no interest in my burgeoning career as the next Byron, and offered no encouragement to continue to submit my poems as I developed my voice.

I did what anyone with sensitivity at all would do and stopped writing poetry even if I still thought of myself as a poet. But sometimes, over the years, a few lines leaked out.

I recently saw a wonderful interview that Nikki Giovanni did with Bill Moyers. Her enthusiasm for her own work is infectious. Fully realizing I have a lot less reason to be as unbridled about my work than Ms. Giovanni does, my career is in the deburgeoning stages anyway and what the hell. Here are a few poems, plucked (mostly) at random from a folder hidden deep in my hard drive. Who am I kidding? It's probably the entire oeuvre.