One-Way

I don't believe respect's a two-way street.

Maybe the kindness due all that I meet.

But I'm thinking of the kind of respect

That happens when I suddenly connect

With somebody whose mind is churning faster

Than mine, and whose vision seems rather vaster.

I look up to them. Then I look beyond

To see from whom their inspiration dawned,

And so on until it grows more abstruse

And I remain on the last rung, obtuse.

Once in a while there's a rhyme to spout

Something I can jot down and then throw out,

Bizarre enough to catch somebody's eye

That those I respect respect, up on high.

But if they say they like it, I can tell

It's just because they don't know me that well.