Two Poems
Steven Kent

Critic’s Choice

My latest book has caught one fan’s attention;

Five stars now on Amazon, woo-hoo!

Deep gratitude, Dear Reader, merits mention:

Thanks, Mom, for that really nice review.

- - -

Losing My Religion(s)

I make a bad Buddhist, I know.

I aim to be better, and still

Despite all my trying

Mosquitos come flying,

And I go right in for the kill.

I make a bad Hindu, I know.

I’m all for nirvana and bliss,

But I’ll be frustrated

If reincarnated

To live again lower than this.

I make a bad Muslim, I know.

I so love both bacon and beer,

And travel to Mecca

Would leave me a wreck, a

Most pitiful pilgrim, I fear.

I make a bad Christian, I know.

I’m lacking in mercy and grace,

And like the disciples

I’m hung up on trifles

And miss what’s in front of my face.

I make a bad pagan, I know.

Though Earth I do long to protect,

It’s unrealistic

To be pantheistic

And therefore I don’t genuflect.

I make a bad Buddhist, I know.

I’ve been awfully patient somehow

But frankly, Gautama,

I’m done with the drama—

I want my Enlightenment now!

- - -

Steven’s notes: “The original title for ‘Losing My Religion(s)’ was ‘Bad Buddhist,’ but thankfully Melissa Balmain saw that it sent the wrong message and encouraged me to find another. ‘Critic’s Choice’ was inspired by the IRL experience of spotting my mother’s glowing Amazon review of my first collection; I remember thinking at the time how awkward things might have been had she panned it. Sadly, she passed away several months before my second was published, and that book is dedicated to her memory. Both poems were originally published in Light.”

- - -

Steven Kent is the poetic alter ego of writer and musician Kent Burnside (www.kentburnside.com). His work appears in 251, Asses of Parnassus, The Dirigible Balloon, Light, Lighten Up Online, The Lyric, New Verse News, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Philosophy Now, The Pierian, Pulsebeat Poetry Journal, The Road Not Taken: A Journal of Formal Poetry, Snakeskin, and Well Read. His collections I Tried (And Other Poems, Too) (2023) and Home at Last (2025) are published by Kelsay Books.

- - -

Hop to…

‘

Two Poems Steven Kent

Two Poems
Steven Kent