“Be proud!” they tell me

Every time I try

Yet what I do is never enough

And so, I ask you, why?

Why should I pour my heart and soul

Into art that is never quite good enough

I practice, try and try again,

And the only response I get is “tough”?

I worked for weeks and weeks and weeks

To compete with my best work for others to see

But to my shame in the gallery I find

So many young artists much better than me

For years upon years I have always tried

Devoted my life to this one skill

But it’s never, NEVER been good enough

And I fear that it never will.