My Father Asks Me What Success Looks Like by Scott Silsbe

My father asks me what success looks like
for a poet. And I don’t have a quick answer.

I mull it over for some vague amount of time
and, knowing that he won’t necessarily like it,
I say, “Success is continuing to write the poem.”

Scott Silsbe was born in Detroit. He now lives in Pittsburgh. His poems have appeared many places including Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, and the Cultural Weekly. He is the author of two poetry collections: Unattended Fire (Six Gallery Press, 2012) and The River Underneath the City (Low Ghost Press, 2013).