a case of the maybes in poetry

maybe what separates you from the “Great Men”
is not genius or hard work but rather that
you’re not a totally-selfish jerk and
you refuse to consciously exploit people
you’re not prepared to
fuck folks over for your benefit
you’re not prepared to form
a cult of personality around yourself
just to get paid or get laid or
get to be on the teevee
you’re not prepared to be
Tim Tebow or Jim Jones or Donald Trump
L. Ron Hubbard or Bill Cosby or Charlie Manson
Marshall Applewhite or Courtney Love
or David Koresh or whoever
maybe greatness is largely a function
of being prepared to hurt everyone else in the world
with the goal of being perceived as great
maybe obscurity’s better if
it means you’ve been humane to everybody
be humane to everybody
being “great” isolates you anyway
being “great” divorces you from reality anyway
be good and do good anyway
goodness is better than greatness
maybe