the best of both worlds in poetry

Pete Best never got to be full Beatles famous
never got to be one of the four coolest guys
in the entire world for a couple years there
but then again
no one tried to stab him to death in his house
no one blew his head off on a busy city street
and unless you are completely insane
that’s what counts more than anything
right?

Pete Best never married a model
he never had a mansion or yacht
he rarely got hounded by the press
he always had a good story to tell
probably never paid for pint in pubs
he worked in the British equivalent
of the unemployment office for decades
then retired and started up a band
to play small successful gigs on
the strength of having once brushed
against the curse of greatness
because it’s basically a curse
right?

Pete at best a living question mark
Pete at best a vortex of what ifs
Pete at worst a cautionary tale
with a long safe life, a wife
and kids and grandkids
which probably helps
him sleep at night
right?

and yet and yet
this culture carves into our bones
that his story is the worst at best
he must know only remorse and regret
more little red wagons than
the little red corvettes
I want to believe our culture
is wrong about my life too
as wrong as it is about Pete Best
but I’m not sure enough
where I’d take bets
right?

right?