Poet for Hire

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the art market on Frenchmen Street with my friends. As usual, we looked at portraits and the jewelry, and we talked with the venders. When we exited the market, we walked to the other side of the street and we ran into two “poets for hire”. They were wearing suits and hats, and they were sitting on two tables with typing machines and notebooks on them. One of my friends asked how much it cost to get a poem, and one of the men answered that it was up to her—my friend— to decide the value of the poem, so she asked for a five dollars poem. Then, the poet asked her what she wanted the poem to be about? And she answered it could be about his favorite topic, so he took a small piece of paper and he wrote about a girl. At the end, the poem was about a page long, and it was the corkiest thing I have ever read although my friend was very happy with it. I would say the poet for hire is a good business because they take advantage of the intoxicated people walking and looking for entertainment on Frenchmen Street; however, there are also people like my friend, who was not intoxicated, and still enjoyed getting a poem, which I understand since she is a English major and there was probably some romanticism involved in getting a poem from a guy wearing a suit on the streets. It was a very different experience, yet it was very enjoyable.