Why I'll never be a poet

From h2g2:

To be a good poet you need a tortured soul. Many notable poets were repressed homosexuals, instigators of incestuous relationships and, in most cases, just downright odd. Success is directly proportional to the number of neuroses maintained, and it is important to die young (and preferably in another country such as Italy) if you want any lasting fame. The cause of death should be a sexually transmitted disease, or just 'mysterious circumstances'.

Some have described me as odd so I guess I've a chance of being just a little bit poetic. Or maybe not, given this description of current poets:

Among others, wistful old people in New England and graduate students wasting away in small offices write poems about their lives and how they don't quite understand where they're going to or how they got to where they are.

You never realise how much of a burden self-knowledge is going to be until you acquire it. By then it's too late. Once you understand, you can never go back.