The Ultimate Compliment

I always enjoy being appreciated
For the work I do,
And perhaps the greatest compliment
That anyone could pay me
As an aspiring writer,
Is to read and obviously enjoy
The narratives I have written.
At a New Years Party
Of an old friend,
I met a sharp old fellow
In his seventies
Who expressed an interest
In seeing some of my work.
He sat there in rapt attention
Reading that book
Cover to cover
Practically all night long.
I found myself checking in regularly
Seeing which piece he was on
And catching his reminisces
About some of our common experiences.
It is incidences like that
That provide the encouragement
I need to keep going,
To keep writing,
To believe in myself
When I begin to doubt,
To know that someday
My work will be enormously popular.
All I want is for people
To enjoy the things I have written.
There is no finer compliment!