slang has come and gone in my life

slang has come and gone in my life like the passing of birds
outside a window with the blinds always drawn
sometimes I have heard the edges of slang in the grey dawn
before I got up to work all day on things that were not slang words
Who knows how many things have been said to me that I didn't understand?
Who can say how many poetic tools have been placed in my hand
Only for me to drop them on the ground thinking they were mistakes
A poet should be attentive to all the sounds in his vicinity
But I'm not really a poet at all and that's okay with me
Not everyone who wants to make poetry actually has what poetry takes.