Hi, I'm Andrew Barker. This is "Modern
Shakespearean Sonnet Number 31: From Neil
From Neil Gaiman's 'The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories'".   It seemed that Hollywood would film my book/
They paid me for the rights
with screenplay made./ Negotiations
pending. What the fuck?/
I'd write the thing and change it if they paid./
For as a writer I live off my
pen/ And how it shapes the world inside my head/
And I'll rewrite again, again,
again,/ If that's the job, and that's the work I get.
But I learnt to be weary of
advice/ From those who are allowed to change the script/
And writing just for
others has a price/ Paid out by knowing
Nothing comes of it./ I left with
something small and personal,/ A poem,
one exact, true villanelle./    Thank you. I'm Andrew Barker. That was Sonnet 31 from
"Joyce is Not Here: 101 Modern
Shakespearean Sonnets." If you enjoyed
that please Comment, Like, Subscribe. Thank you.
