Steven Kent

Mistakes (I've Made a Few)

Mistakes I make are mine alone;
   I rarely share the blame,
And one rule I have set in stone:
   No two shall be the same.

New fumbles cause me little strife;
   I find them every day.
(Variety's the spice of life,
   Or so I've heard folk say.)

I stumble, bumble on, my friend,
   Haphazardly a mess,
And will these errors ever end?
   I dare not try to guess.

My catechism's ended — go
   Now, watch and stay awake.
Repeat a blunder? Heavens, no;
   There's many more to make!

Steven Kent is the poetic alter ego of writer and musician Kent Burnside (www.kentburnside.com). His work appears in 251, Asses of Parnassus, Light, Lighten Up Online, New Verse News, Philosophy Now, Pulsebeat Poetry Journal, The Road Not Taken: A Journal of Formal Poetry, Snakeskin, and Well Read. His collection I Tried (And Other Poems, Too) was published in 2023 by Kelsay Books. He lives near Nashville, Tennessee.