It’s easy to

criticize, it’s much

harder to

build. Although I grant

thee, by the powers

invested in me, full

authority to destroy these

words on

sight, if you are still

reading this, perhaps you

will wait a little longer.

Perhaps you will visit

your mother. Perhaps you

will water the chickens,

comb the goats. Perhaps you

will sew an emerald from

some old fishing line and

perhaps you will solve the

age-old problem of affordable

housing by revolutionizing

architectural design. But you decide

to start with a birdhouse and when

it’s done you hang it outside, seasons

pass and no birds come. Finally you

go outside and you see you

didn’t put a hole in it.

Or perhaps you won’t because

it’s much

harder to

build and

it’s easy to

criticize, but either way

there’s love

in the meantime.

Authorized to Destroy

Ian Valor

Poetry
REACH OUT

iantvalor@gmail.com

© 2026 Ian Valor