Nowhere man misfiring

DREAM ON
by James Tate

Some people go their whole lives
without ever writing a single poem.
Extraordinary people who don't hesitate
to cut somebody's heart or skull open.
They go to baseball games with the greatest of ease.
and play a few rounds of golf as if it were nothing.
These same people stroll into a church
as if that were a natural part of life.
Investing money is second nature to them.
They contribute to political campaigns
that have absolutely no poetry in them
and promise none for the future.
They sit around the dinner table at night
and pretend as though nothing is missing.

I've linked to the rest of this poem.

I'm not sure I agree completely that not writing poetry is the only thing missing in most people's lives. Maybe we should get credit for sometimes reading poetry at least. But it's good to know that a poet thinks writing poetry is a really important thing.