The Song of An Always Self-Published Poet

Often taking
Perverse pride
Being a self-published poet
Like my beau idols
Walt Whitman and
William Blake

When finally time came
To hammer out terms
With my first semi-legit
Publisher
Ironically enough
With a company 
Named Proverse

I found myself
Adopting a hard line
Over inconsequential things
Such as the percentage share
Of non-existent revenue streams
And foreign rights that weren't there 
Perhaps in the hope of insuring
That publication might never
Come to pass

And that way
My authorial hymen
Might remain intact
At least a bit longer
Having received insufficient
Inducement to give up
My meager pittance of purity